The Journal of Noelle Kelley
by Meaghan McCormack
Summary: When Noelle Kelley is confronted by deadly aliens from a parallel dimension, she begins to realize that her favorite television show might not be as fictional as she thought. Before leaving with the Doctor, Noelle promises to keep a journal...
1. Meet the Doctor Part I

**December 27, 2008**

There is no one, not a single person on this entire planet, who will ever believe what has happened to me.

Okay. I have to calm down. I have to start at the beginning. This isn't going to make any sense otherwise and I need this as a record to prove, to myself at least, that I'm not insane. That is… I'm pretty sure I'm not insane….

If anyone is reading this, my name is Noelle Kelley. I'm 21 years old and was about to finish my senior year in college with degrees in physical biology and English literature. I know it sounds like a weird combination but what can I say? A lot of things interest me. I'm an author. Don't check your local libraries or anything, I haven't been published yet and who knows, now maybe I never will, but I love to write. If I slip into narration while I'm trying to describe what's happening to me, it's just because it's easier for me to structure my thoughts that way. I'm from California, USA, Planet Earth and this all started a little over a week ago.

Wait. There's a bit more background information I need to get out there if this is going to make any sense later. I'll admit it – I'm a totally and complete geek. Can navigate computers better than my own neighborhood- , spent more time with online friends than real life ones during my teenage years- , had lined up a job with a high tech company (at least until I can get published) near my hometown-Geek. And I like geeky things too. Computer games, Star Wars, Harry Potter (can't get enough Harry Potter, it was a complete obsession for over ten years – and if you're counting that's since the first book was released. Okay, I lied, you can find something I've "published" but I won't tell you where exactly – but online fanfiction is a good place to start) and this television show called Doctor Who.

You've probably heard of it. Doctor Who is this program on the BBC (in England) and the SciFi channel in the US. It's the longest airing sci-fi television show ever and has been running, with a couple of years off, since the 60s. I got hooked about a year ago when I proceeded to watch the last three years worth of episodes in about a week. The main character is a man, well, alien, called The Doctor who is an interplanetary space explored who can travel across the universe and through time. He's not human but looks like one, and has an uncanny knack for saving the world. But it's your fairly typical science fiction TV show. I, of course, was hooked instantly and spent a happy year rewatching my favorite episodes and trying to convince my friends that it wasn't a waste of time. God. I have never been more right about anything in my life.

When I got home for Christmas, my family, who is generally pretty understanding if not appreciative my of tendency to obsess over movies, television shows, books, computer games, etc. (don't even get me started on Lord of the Rings) got fed up with my DoctorTalk pretty quickly. That is until my sister discovered that she could make me jump about a foot in the air by mimicking the gravely robotic voice of the bad-guy aliens from the show. (They're called the Daleks and go around shouting "EXTERMINATE" at anything that moves. Trust me, they're not a pleasant bunch.) That entertained everyone, myself excepted, up through Christmas. That's when things started to get really weird.

It was the day after Christmas and my mother talked my little sister and me into braving the mall to go shopping. She's a sucker for sales, but only when someone else can go deal with the parking and crowds and annoyed sales clerks. Let me say upfront, I am a huge fan of fashion and shopping but I am definitely not fashionable. Maybe if I were skinnier, or taller, or hadn't spent half my time on earth in front of a computer I'd have a better idea of how a young woman is supposed to dress. But it doesn't really matter, I'm just saying, I'm not exactly model material and I usually get pretty frustrated when I go shopping because nothing really fits right or looks good.

But that was how it started. For the first time I can remember, everything was perfect. I would try on something that looked good on the hanger and – believe me, it was a surprise every time – it looked good on me too. I must have made my sister go into about twenty different stores, and she could barely get me out of them. If you're a girl, you understand the absolute magic of having a good shopping day. If you're a guy, well, just take my word for it, there's nothing like it. Finally my sister got so bored (and so nervous about the amount of money I was spending) that she went home, promising to pick me up later. I must have been in the stores for hours and it had gotten dark ages before. Every time I went through the checkout line, I promised that was it, I'd call my sister to pick me up and go home, and then I'd see one more thing I just had to try on.

Finally, I knew I really had to get home. Most of the stores had already closed and I was up on the top floor of this huge department store. I called my sister and told her I needed her to come pick me up.

"Thank god you're finally done. What's the point in having a real job if you're not going to save any of the money you make?" she said. Those were the last words I heard from her.

I was just finishing up in the changing room, then, and that's when I heard it. That gravely robotic voice outside the dressing room. It sounded like it was far away and at first I thought, rather stupidly I suppose, that someone was watching the television show Doctor Who. Except the voice was getting closer.

"Emergency dimensional shift completed," I heard it say. "Human life forms detected. EXTERMINATE!"

"Alright Clare, you got me. I'm sorry I took so long," I said because of course I thought it was my sister. "Have you been watching my DVDs? You're getting good at that voice. It's kind of scary."

"The human is speaking nonsense. Brain function may be impaired. Do not assimilate brain matter." I wasn't sure exactly how I could tell, but it was definitely another voice. More confused than anything else, I gathered up my bags and stepped out of the dressing room into the hallway.

At this point, I would just like to say, for the record, that I don't think staying in the dressing room would have changed anything. Maybe it would have been the smart thing to do. Maybe I would have just died then, eleven days ago. I don't know for sure but I'd like to think that my actions didn't really change anything. That much.

In the hallway, every single possibility of what could be going on crossed my mind. I mean everything. Extra television props, a promotion for an upcoming movie, bad fish in my salad at lunch… everything except the possibility that three alien Daleks in the hall in front of me.

"That is the human. We have been detected. EXTERMINATE!" The raised their gun… arm… thingies up towards me (bear in mind that at this point I still didn't actually buy that they were the real deal. Being that they're fictional and all) and I still hadn't settled on an explanation for their presence that made any sense. My head was really starting to hurt.

"Yeah, I've thought it over and I can't figure out why there is a band of Daleks on the third floor of a Macy's department store," I said out loud. They don't really have eyes… it's more of an eye stalk, but I'm pretty sure they all stared at me.

"She KNOWS us. Daleks do not exist in this dimension. How do you know the name Dalek? EXPLAIN!" This, at least, was familiar. Seeing as there was a Doctor Who episode where someone bought themselves some time by surprising the Daleks with knowledge of their species. My thoughts were moving pretty slowly at that point so I wasn't exactly sure what to do with that bought time when there was a heartwarmingly familiar sound – sort of like playing a tape of someone blowing their nose forwards then backwards again and again while in a wind tunnel – and a 1960's blue British police call box appeared in front of us.

You don't believe me. I know. I don't believe me. It's impossible. It's fictional. It's NOT REAL. But it's true and I can't say it any more plainly than that. Because at that moment a man who could be no one but The Doctor stepped out of the box or, should I say, the TARDIS (name of his spaceship. It's an acronym, there's fan sites, look it up).

"Ooh ho, that was clever!" he cried, brandishing some sort of metallic globe thing.

"It is The Doctor." One of the Daleks spoke, and all three turned away from me. This was helpful. It gave me a chance to focus on my thoughts which were taking me to absolutely impossibly unreal conclusions. "How did he follow? HOW?"

"Ah, well, fortunately I figured you might pull a stunt like that. So I just hitched a lift, well happened to be in range of your dimensional shift, well, accidently got pulled along for the ride. But here we are then! Where were we?" He wound it his arm to throw the metallic globe and the Daleks began to wave their arm… things frantically. It was at that moment, for better or for worse, that I found my voice.

"No. Way," was all I could manage at first. Five eyes stared at me (that's three eye stalks and two from The Doctor). "You can't be."

"Can't be what? As busy as I am right at this very moment concentrating on saving your life? Actually…" he started but I cut him off.

"The Doctor!"

He whipped around to look at me straight on, mouth agape. The metallic ball fell from his hand and rolled into a corner where it sat innocently for approximately half a second before vanishing – along with the entire row of changing rooms.

This is taking much longer than I thought it would to explain and I have to go. I'll write more later today. At least, I hope I will.

**Later**

Not dead yet. Well, at least I think I'm not dead. Maybe I am and they have internet access in heaven. Maybe I'm not in heaven and they have internet access in purgatory. Anyway, back to the day after Christmas.

I'm starting to get the sense that the dates I'm using to tag my journal entries don't mean anything. For all I know, it's twenty years in the future, or two days in the past, or half past noon at home. But this is the only sense of "real" time I've got. Twenty four hours goes by on my watch and I count it as a day. Come to think of it, if we're not going around the sun – well, the sun in our solar system, then 24 hours is pretty arbitrary. Hm. I've always wanted more hours in a day. Maybe I'll make my days 42 hours. Always liked that number.

Where was I? Right. Disappearing dressing rooms. And angry aliens (yeah, that would be three Daleks and a Time Lord).

"How do you know I'm The Doctor? No, wait, you made me waste my one dimensional transporter on a row of changing stalls when it was the only thing I had to get the Daleks back to the right dimension without, oh, you know, using the energy of a dozen suns. No. _Wait_. How do you know I'm The Doctor?"

The Doctor looked quite like the most recent actor to portray him on television, David Tennant I think his name is. His hair was slightly blonder and his nose a little longer but other than that the resemblance was uncanny.

"Well who else would you be? And…" I glanced back at the Daleks who seemed to be recovering from their scare with the metal ball. "Does that mean those are _real_ Daleks?"

"What?? How do you know about Daleks? This is impossible!"

"EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR!" The Daleks had gotten us back on track.

"Doctor! Duck!!" I shouted and just in time as a green bolt of energy shot out of the Dalek and towards the Doctor who dove to the side, towards the TARDIS. The Daleks continued to shoot, but the deadly energy bolts bounced harmlessly off the force field surrounding the TARDIS keeping the Doctor safe. I had a stray thought about all the wonderful clothes I had just bought and how it was seeming more and more likely I might die before I had a chance to wear them when the Daleks resumed their attack stance towards me.

"The Doctor will come forward to be exterminated," one said.

"The Doctor most certainly will not," he responded. If I hadn't been about to die, I definitely would have taken the time to appreciate his British accent. I love accents.

"The Doctor will obey or the human girl will be exterminated."

"Yes, well, that would be a shame, seeing as she seems to know all about us. That's rather interesting, don't you think?"

"The Doctor is correct. We evaluated this dimension and selected it because no Daleks or Time Lords currently exist. We can start a new world."

"Ohh, is that what the plan was? Clever. But, you are wrong about one thing." I was starting to lose track of the conversation. It wasn't that I was confused by what they were saying (although I was pretty confused by what they were saying). It was just that I was pretty sure I was about to faint.

"The Daleks are not wrong. There are no Daleks or Time Lords in existence in this dimension. The human brain function may be impaired but it is necessary to assimilate brain matter to understand this dimension. Proceed."

I was pretty sure I knew what that meant and I really really didn't want my brain to be sucked out of my head. From the look on The Doctor's face, I'm fairly certain he felt the same way. Unfortunately, there were three rapidly approaching Daleks between the two of us extending what really looked like toilet plungers. I really didn't need The Doctor yelling it at the top of his lungs – believe me, I was already running.

I got about as far as the end of the hallway before turning back around. Again, probably should have kept running but come on, what would you do? It was _The Doctor_ himself and as any true fan of the TV show would agree, I was certainly not going to let a few Daleks get in the way. It was fortunate, then, that The Doctor had already dashed past them completely ignored in their attempts to absorb my brain, and caught up with me. Before I knew what had happened, I felt his hand grab my own and begin to pull me along.

I had always imagined it would be difficult to run hand in hand with someone but something happened when he touched me. I can't really explain it, more than a jolt of adrenaline, it was like a jolt of adrenaline with a shot of… something else. Hope, maybe. Or just time and speed and space. Whatever it was, I was running again, faster than before and now weaving through racks of hanging clothing as the Daleks continued their pursuit.

"EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE!"

I don't care what planet you're from. That is the creepiest thing I have ever heard.

"Hullo," The Doctor said cheerfully, still pulling me along and narrowly missing a tall hanger full of glittery dresses. "You seem to have a distinct advantage here seeing as you know who I am."

"I'm Noelle," I gasped. "Noelle Kelley. What are they _doing_ here?? What are _you_ doing here? Not that I'm complaining."

"Quick in here," he said, practically throwing me sideways into a service elevator. He pulled out a small metal rod with a bright blue light at the end which buzzed loudly as he waved it around the exterior of the elevator door. There was a slight jolt and the elevator began to descend rapidly down the shaft.

"Oh my god. I don't believe it. You actually have a sonic screwdriver," I said.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"That thing you used, it's a sonic screw driver. Right?"

"What??" he demanded again, sounding completely perplexed.

"You. Doctor. TARDIS. Sonic screwdriver. Is this like the episode where you made yourself forget about being a Time Lord?" I was starting to get frustrated. Being confronted with a dressing room full of deadly aliens is one thing, but being confronted with a dressing room full of aliens and the one person in the universe you thought might save you only to find out that he's just as confused by the situation as you are is entirely another.

"What?"

"Would you stop saying that!" I shouted, losing control entirely. With a rush of embarrassment I realized I was about to start crying. I think The Doctor might have noticed as well because he looked first horrified, then consoling as he replied, "excuse me. What I meant to say was: how could you possibly know about me? About the Daleks? About my sonic screwdriver?!"

"Well, if you're real, and, unless I've completely lost it, it's looking more and more like you are, this must happen all the time. I mean, most people have heard of you, even if they don't know the details."

"Interdimensional travel," he muttered, seemingly to himself. "Never ceases to surprise me. Um, Noelle, there is a reason the Daleks teleported themselves to this dimension. There's ways of sort of, checking ahead, monitoring the space-time continuum of any given dimension. They picked this one because in all of space and time, there has never been and never will be any Time Lord or any Daleks. We don't exist. There is no possible way you could know who we are."

I stared at him, trying to take it all in. This sort of talk certainly wasn't consistent with the television show I had been watching which was truly unnerving. It might sound weird, but as long as I could pretend that I was part of a TV serial, then it was like it was happening to someone else. But someone had changed the script and suddenly I had to deal with it myself again.

"So you're saying the TARDIS can travel between parallel dimensions?" I asked, trying to redefine the rules of this absurd situation.

"Well of course she can. What could would a time traveling spaceship be if it couldn't hop across the void?"

"Right, that's not asking much at all," I said under my breath. The Doctor grinned at me. Rather than being comforting, it was really pretty unsettling.

"But what do you mean, most people have heard of me? Are you from another dimension?" he pulled on a pair of cardboard glasses, like the kind you get at movie theaters when you go to watch a 3D movie. "No void stuff all over you," he continued, waving his hands in a sort of swirly motion around me. The elevator had stopped.

"I'm not from another dimension! And everyone knows who you are because of the television show. You're a character. On TV. Longest running science fiction show in history. Doctor Who!"

The Doctor's eyes widened. Then, inexplicably, he started to laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"You know, I always thought I'd make a good television actor!"


	2. Meet the Doctor Part II

**December 28, 2008**

Things are happening too fast, I can't keep up with this, and there's no way I'm going to get my journal caught up at this rate. I mean, I could write a thousand books about just what we did today! True, it probably wouldn't be a very happy story. At least for the Claytonians… shoot, I promised I'd do this in order, I have to go back and keep explaining how I got here before I can start explaining what's going on now.

"No! Really?" The Doctor said. "A television program?"

"You seriously have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Nope," he said cheerfully.

"Alright," I said with a sigh, and proceeded to explain Doctor Who and the whole fan obsession that had built up around it.

"But things are a little different, I think," I added once I had finished. "I mean, The Doctor… the one in the show… can't travel between dimensions. It's impossible for him."

"Well that's _boring_," insisted The Doctor. "This is exactly what I mean! This is brilliant! It just goes to show, you never know what's going to be different in a parallel dimension. Of course, you'd think they'd just be little changes, like your job or your species, but this is quite interesting. So… technically I don't exist and never will. But in a way, I do, I'm just fictional. Oy, that will be some food for thought on the nature of parallel dimensions."

There was a loud thud on the top of the elevator. For a moment, I had forgotten where we were.

"It's the Daleks," I yelled. "They're trying to get in!" There was another thud and the metal roof of the elevator began to cave. The Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at the door which opened, revealing the storage basement of the department store. We ducked out of the collapsing elevator just in time as one of the Daleks crashed through the ceiling entirely.

"Couldn't we just…" I started as the metal-encased alien focused on us.

"Noelle, this is not a television show, this is not a story," The Doctor said with a forced calm. "Right now, we are going to do just one thing." I waited. The Dalek raised one of its arms (which oddly resembled an egg beater). "RUN!"

Once again there was that jolt of energy and the two of us were careening through the boxes of clothing, piles of mannequins and hangers and towards the stairs. Thick electrical wires hung dangerously from the ceiling forcing us to duck and weave through the room. We were about to reach the stairwell when another Dalek appeared at the top of the stairs, levitated slightly, and began to float towards us.

"What do we do now?" I yelled as the Daleks closed in on us.

"Got any interdimensional transporter devices on you?"

"No!"

"Laser guns?"

"NO!!" I shouted. I was trying not to listen to the Daleks. They were incredibly repetitive but the effect was more mind-numbingly terrifying rather than monotonous.

"Ah. Well, in that case…." The Doctor turned away from the Dalek descending the stairs and back towards the one chasing us from the elevator. With a swift motion, he reached up and grabbed a handful of the hanging electrical cords and ripped them out of the ceiling where they crackled and popped with electricity in his hand. In the same motion, he threw the pile of cords at the oncoming Dalek which was instantly engulfed in a bright blue web of electricity.

"Quick! Get past it, there's got to be another stairway!" he called, already running past me.

"Yeah, and another Dalek somewhere around! Did you kill that one?"

"Nope. Hardly stopped it. Their Dalekanium shells don't conduct electricity in the same way as most earth metals. Just bought us some time."

We rounded a huge pile of display tables to see another staircase, this one blissfully clear of Daleks, with the harsh florescent lights of the closing department store shinning at the top.

"Come on!" yelled The Doctor and, grabbing at a stitch in my side, I followed him. Then I heard something that made my whole body go numb.

"Noelle? Noelle? I'm sick of waiting in the car, it's time to… _oh. My. God._" A terrible scream came from the front of the store, echoed by my own.

"Doctor!" I said, grabbing his arm. "That's my sister!"

"Clare! Clare!!" I was screaming. "Get out of here! Get in the car and drive away! I'm fine, I'm going to be fine, just get out Clare!!" I couldn't see her, but she must have heard me because she stopped screaming and I heard the distinct sound of her sneakers squeaking against the waxed floor as she began to run. I was already racing towards the place where I had heard her voice and saw her jumping into the car parked outside just as I rounded an escalator. The Daleks fired at my sister as she retreated, and sent a wall of glass sliding to the ground as they shattered the front window display.

"Hey! Daleks!" I called frantically. Behind me, The Doctor was shouting something but I wasn't paying any attention. I had reached one of the check out registers nearest to the door and the aliens and grabbed a coat hanger, chucking it at the aliens. "Turn around you stupid hunk of metal!"

"Oy!" said The Doctor, skidding to a halt next to me. "No taunting the deadly aliens." I ignored him and, despite the rapidly approaching Daleks, breathed a sigh of relief as my sister's car disappeared from view.

"That is incorrect. Daleks are not stupid."

"They have a point," The Doctor said with a shrug.

"Not helping!" I said, the panic starting to rise again.

"You're the one taunting them instead of _running away_ like any sensible person would do!"

"Hold still. We must assimilate brain matter and exterminate you."

Without thinking, I grabbed the object nearest to my hand, an electric price scanner, and held it between me and the nearest Dalek, holding the scan button down and sending a thin red laser line directly into the eye stalk. Nothing happened. I closed my eyes, and took what I assumed to be my last breath.

"Ohh, that's brilliant!" cried The Doctor. "Absolutely genius! Don't move Noelle!"

I opened my eyes a crack and screamed again. The Daleks with their toilet plunger brain absorbing thingies had nearly reached me but The Doctor seemed to be ignoring them and had taken out his sonic screwdriver once again. Instead of aiming it at the Daleks, he pointed it at my hand, or, rather, what I was holding in my hand.

"Just… increase the intensity of the laser and… a ha!" he cried and suddenly there was a horrible robotic squeal from the Dalek in front of me. It's eye stalk was waving wildly and it spun around and around, clearly in pain.

"Don't just stand there!" said The Doctor, sounding exasperated. "RUN!"

I followed him back up three flights of stairs to where the row of dressing rooms had been just a quarter of an hour before. The TARDIS still stood there, an unassuming 60s police call box, in the middle of the hallway.

"There's still two more," I said, panting.

"Well, technically there's still three. And even with my sonic screwdriver boosting the intensity of the laser, that isn't going to blind it for long," the Doctor replied.

"You mean we didn't even get rid of one?!"

"Nope, we'll have to move on to plan B."

"What's plan B?" I asked.

"Well, I hadn't quite gotten as far as plan A yet. Give us a minute."

"You said that they accidently pulled you and the TARDIS along when they did their intra-dimension transport thingy," I started.

"Interdimensional emergency teleport," he interjected.

"Whatever! Couldn't you just get them up here next to the TARDIS and pull them back?"

The Doctor looked mildly surprised. "Did you just think of that? That's good. That's very good. Unfortunately it wouldn't work, but good thought all the same. Their emergency teleport is an area affect. So it can pick up injured Daleks and take them along for the ride. The TARDIS doesn't do area affects. It transports you if you're inside of or holding onto it, but otherwise, you're staying behind."

"So what are we going to do?!" I shouted again, the note of urgency in my voice rising as the voices of all three Daleks drew closer. They had also reached the third floor.

"Right. For now, we're not dying. Or getting our brains sucked out. Both on the Do Not Do list for the day. In you go!"

I gave a gasp of surprise as the Doctor pulled open the door of the TARDIS and gave me a small push inside. I knew what to expect. I had seen the television show. But not even prior knowledge can prepare you for your first time in the TARDIS. Yes, the inside is bigger than the outside, that's a shock for sure. But the whole thing is just so… overwhelming. With the sounds and the lights… and you don't really see it in the TV show, but it just goes up for ages. There's stairways leading to a sleeping area, and something that may have once resembled a kitchen. I'm getting ahead of myself again, I'll explain the TARDIS later.

"But you can't just leave them out there! No one can fight them, what are people going to do if they start shooting everything? No one will believe they're real, they'll think it's a television stunt or something!" I said as the Doctor pulled the door of the TARDIS closed, just before the Daleks opened fire.

"Do television stunts routinely destroy property and kill everyone in this dimension?" he asked curiously.

"Of course not!"

"Well then there won't be much danger of people mistaking it for advertising, now will there?"

This was, of course, logical but not remotely comforting.

"My family's out there! My friends! You can't just leave them!"

The Doctor looked at me with a reassuring expression and said gently, "I didn't say we'd do that. But, as we've already established, throwing coat hangers at them isn't going to help."

"You keep saying 'we' like I'm a part of this. Just because I know all about you doesn't mean I want any part in this!" I said, still slightly panicky. This was, of course, a lie. I had wanted nothing more than to travel with The Doctor back when I thought he was fictional. But at that moment all I could think about was my sister screaming.

"Well, you could leave if you wanted. But there are three angry Daleks right outside the TARDIS who want to suck out your brain." I looked him in the eyes for the first time since he had arrived and was struck by how old his eyes looked. It was as if his young appearance just faded away when I looked into those eyes and all I saw was ancient time, stretching on for eternity. He must have noticed something change in my expression and said, "what? Come on, it's not that bad traveling in the TARDIS! It can't be all that bad in the show. I mean, if it's me. And my TARDIS. And my sonic screwdriver."

Involuntarily I gave a small smile and he grinned back.

"There, you see? All we're going to do is pop into another dimension, find another dimensional transporter, and come back, right to this moment to get rid of them. Bonus of having a time traveling spaceship."

"And you can get us right back to… now? To stop them here?"

"Yes. Right back to now. Well... close to now. Well… now give or take eighteen months."

"_Eighteen months_?!" I said, starting to shout again. "In eighteen months the Daleks could have exterminated everyone here and taken over the earth!"

"Noelle, listen to me," he said firmly, grabbing my shoulders and staring me in the eyes. "I've seen what the Daleks do. I've seen them take part in destroying my world, my people. I don't for one minute take them lightly. But we have to go get something I can fight them with, that's the only chance I have of stopping them here. Do you understand?"

I felt myself start to tear up when it became clear that, after all my ridiculous fantasies of traveling with the Doctor, based on a silly TV show, here I was and at the cost of leaving my home and family with the most deadly aliens I could have possibly imagined. I nodded.

The Doctor nodded back, then quickly let go, jumping towards the TARDIS controls.

"Alright Noelle Kelley. Hold on to something. Here we go!"

The TARDIS shuddered frantically and then with a loud pop, stopped entirely. The lights flickered on and off for a moment and I looked at the Doctor expectantly.

"Well. That was odd," he said, staring at the controls.

"What? What's wrong?"

"We haven't gone anywhere." He jumped around the center control hub and pulled open the door of the TARDIS, running outside.

"Careful, the Daleks are right there!" I yelled but instead of being met with the sounds of Dalek speech and their laser fire, it was silent.

"It's alright, come on out," the Doctor called and warily I followed him. I could dimly make out the walls in the darkness; the lights had all gone out. They were covered in scorch marks, presumably from where the Daleks fired as the TARDIS tried to leave. I looked out the window. Even though early evening had fallen by the time my whole adventure had begun, there had still been the light of cars moving through the mall parking lot and down the streets outside. Now, the moon had fully risen and the store and streets were deserted. I was somewhat irrelevantly pleased to see that my shopping bags were right where I had left them, on the other end of the hall. I glanced at my watch – it said 10:23PM, only half an hour after I called my sister.

"What happened?" I asked nervously.

"No idea. Although… I don't think I've ever transported the TARDIS into another dimension without using, well, the TARDIS. All of the internal calibrations must have been jumbled when it got pulled along by the Daleks. I'm going to have to reset the calibrations before she'll fly properly."

"How long is that going to take?"

"A couple of hours at the least."

"But what time is it now? Clearly more time has passed out here than in the TARDIS… oh god, what if we're years in the future? What if everyone's dead? What if…." The Doctor cut me off.

"What if it's three in the morning on the same night we left?" He gestured to a large digital date and time clock over the doorway. I felt silly for having missed it. Another thought struck me.

"My family is going to think I'm dead! I've got to call them!" I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed my home number. It had barely rung once before I heard my mother's frantic voice on the other end.

"Noelle? Where are you? Are you in the hospital? Are you okay? Where are you??"

This, more than anything, calmed me down immensely. With my mom, she can cover the worry and panic bases for two, leaving you to deal with being calm and collected.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine," I said in what I hoped was a reassuring voice.

"But it's all over the news! These alien things like… from that horrible TV show you watch. They destroyed the store… Clare SAW them! She came home and thought you were dead. Why didn't you call?"

I had wondered when this was suddenly going to become a guilt trip.

"Um… those alien things must be disrupting the cell signals. I couldn't get a signal until just now."

"Hmm… and where are you? Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"NO! Mom, no, I'm fine, just don't leave the house. Stay inside, these things are dangerous. I'm with a friend."

"What friend? Where are you?" I figured I wouldn't get her to stop asking until I gave some sort of satisfactory answer.

"Maddy lives over by the mall, I walked to her house. I'm going to stay here until it's safe to go outside again."

The Doctor looked mildly impressed at my string of lies. He hadn't had to deal with my mother before.

"Well… call me again in the morning. And have your phone on so I can call you! And don't do anything stupid."

"Why would I do anything stupid?" I asked, wondering if she had any idea what exactly it was I might be doing.

"I don't know, you just think… you think this sort of thing is like your books and your movies and this Doctor Who show but it's _not_ Noelle. You can't do things like that. Just, don't leave the house, don't think you can save everyone. There's no such thing as a Doctor Who."

"Hey now, I heard that," the Doctor said behind me and I quickly covered the mouthpiece of my phone and glared at him.

"Don't worry mom, I promise, nothing is going to happen to me. I love you, mom."

"I love you too, sweetie. Call me soon."

"Alright, that's taken care of," I said, turning back to the Doctor. "Now what are we going to do. Can't you just… make some weapons or something?"

"What do you think I'm going to make them out of? Coat racks and prom dresses?"

"You're a genius!"

"Yes, but even for me, these are pretty limiting materials. But if it's all I've got… I just wish we had a few more electronics, these register computers are worthless."

"Why didn't you say that's what you needed before? We're in a shopping mall, why don't we go to the electronics store?"

A wide grin lit up the Doctor's face. "Why don't we indeed! Lead the way Noelle Kelley! We're going to defeat us some Daleks."

**Later**

Clare, when you read this. Two things. One: don't lie to mom, she'll always find out and two: don't tell mom I lied to her and DON'T tell her about this journal. She'd flip. Although she did get on surprisingly well with the Doctor when they met…. Anyway:

"What do you need? Computers or home appliances? Ooh, you could make killer blenders! It could be the blenders against the mixers. Don't the Daleks look a little bit like mixers with those egg beater arms?" I was feeling, and acting, giddy and shivering like crazy. It wasn't the cold or anything, but the bouts of nerves and adrenaline that kept running through my body. The Doctor, however, seemed to be taking my nervous chatter seriously.

"Hmm, unless you have six-foot tall blenders, I think we'd better go with the computers. More to work with.

"Alright, this way."

The mall was completely deserted but here and there I saw piles of shopping bags and knocked over tables or garbage cans. It looked like any remaining shoppers had made a panicked exit once the Daleks had left the building. We stopped in front of the Sony store which must have been hastily evacuated as well because all of the TVs and computers were still on. The door was closed, but unlocked.

"Here, this is it," I called to the Doctor who was looking around at the discarded shopping bags.

"Brilliant," he said as we entered the store. "This should do nicely."

"What are you going to do?"

"Let's see what we have here." The Doctor started frantically running around the room, pulling the television screens, computers, DVD players and other various electronics apart as he went. "Glass tubing; ooh, this is high quality silicon, got to have some of that; aluminum tubing; screws, screws, screws… Noelle, sort through these," he said tossing a handful of metal screws at me. "Keep all the same kind together. What else have we got here… plenty of scrap metal…."

I could barely keep up with his movements and every few moments he would whip out the sonic screwdriver to pull apart another object. "But what are you making? You couldn't possibly make an inter-dimensional teleport out of a DVD player," I asked incredulously.

"True, however, I _can_ make a more powerful laser. And the Daleks will have realized that the TARDIS has come back, they'll have set up some way to be alerted to my return, we don't have much time."

"But I thought you said the laser didn't really do anything, it only temporarily blinded them!"

"There was no way I could power up that little scanner you used enough to do any real damage. I think… well, I'm pretty sure… well, I'm hopeful that I can make something that'll do the job properly. Are you done sorting?"

"Yes, but…" I started, not particularly encouraged by his less-that-positive outlook on our laser building project, but he cut me off with another set of tasks.

"I need cold water. And… CO2. Is there somewhere you could get a balloon?"

"To breath into? I don't know where I could get a balloon, but there's a candy store across the way, they probably have rubber gloves… and there's a fountain outside, that water'll be freezing."

"Ohh, you're good," he grinned and then, sounding surprised repeated, "really good. Right, those two things then come back here, quick as you can!"

I ran into the candy store and found a box of rubber gloves on the counter and then looked around for something I could use to collect the water. Finally, at a loss and spurred on by the flying sparks coming from where the Doctor was hunched over his creation, I pulled down a glass jar filled with jelly beans and poured them all onto the floor. The Doctor looked up at the sound, then resumed his work as I ran to the fountain, scooped up the freezing water and rejoined him in the Sony store.

"Right, this tube here," he said, indicating the narrower of the two glass tubes he had selected from the TV sets. "Needs to be filled with the CO2. Breath into the gloves until they inflate then hand them to me." I followed his instructions, wondering how this could possibly work. He had screwed one piece of metal over one end of the glass tube and with a swift movement, pulled the inflated glove over the opposite end. Carefully, he squeezed the screwdriver under the glove careful not to let any air out, and activated it.

"See? Skeleton key, laser magnifier and vacuum pump! That's not your every day screwdriver," he said proudly. I just nodded, completely lost.

He fitted the narrow tube filled with gas inside the larger one and poured in the cold water, then fastened on another strip of metal to close off the entire device.

"Now what we need is a power supply. A big, moving, powerful, power supply."

"Couldn't you use the TARDIS?"

"Not while she's recalibrating."

"What about that?" I asked, indicating a wheeled box covered in outlets that the store must use for wiring the display electronics.

"Perfect!"

I couldn't tell you exactly how he did it, but ten minutes later, the Doctor had a very odd looking device strapped to the top of the power case. The gas inside the tube had begun to glow very slightly red and a small mirror attached to the front of the haphazard laser allowed some direction of the beam.

"Now we just wait for it to charge up and for the Daleks to come and get me," the Doctor said cheerfully.

"How do you know they'll come back? Wouldn't they just assume you'd have figured out a way to destroy them and leave you alone?"

"Nah, they'd think I had an uncalibrated TARDIS and no weapons. They'd be right, of course. So they'd want to finish me off before I foil their dastardly plans," he replied with a wink.

"That doesn't make any sense. If I was them, I'd just get as far away from you as possible. I mean… I'd just go somewhere where –" I stopped short as I heard the familiar, and rapidly approaching words:

"Exterminate the Doctor!"

"Else." I finished lamely.

"Right then. Time to find out if this baby actually does anything! Cross your fingers Noelle, it's Dalek zapping time!"

The Daleks rolled forward and the Doctor stood tensed over the makeshift laser beam. If there was some sort of witty exchange between the Doctor and the Daleks, like there would have been in the TV show, I didn't realize it. I still had a bad case of the shakes and this time it was worse because I knew what to expect and had had time for my brain to work out just how insane this whole situation really was.

"The Doctor will now be exterminated," insisted the front-most Dalek just as the laser finished warming up and activated. The gas inside the glass tube had gone from red to a pinkish grey and I waited for a red beam to take out the Daleks.

"It's not doing anything!" I cried but at that moment a terrible sound came from the alien, worse that it had been before.

"Don't get near it! It's not going to look like a regular laser beam, it's just a stream of particle and they'll burn right through your retinas if you get in the way. Sort of like that," the Doctor said looking slightly disgusted at the hideous pain of the Dalek. As one spun out of the way, the invisible beam caught another Dalek and its voice joined in the chorus of screams.

"Retreat, retreat," insisted the last Dalek, scooting backwards away from the laser.

"Where are you going to go? Don't you understand? This can't possibly go on any longer! You're alone in this universe, in this dimension!" the Doctor shouted. The cart of outlets had begun to spark slightly.

"The Daleks will not be defeated, we will retreat," repeated the alien and raised its own laser gun arm.

"Noelle, look out!" the Doctor shouted, and as if in slow motion I saw him come towards me and tackle me to the ground, rolling us both behind the service desk just as an enormous explosion filled the place where we had stood seconds before. I covered my head with my arms and felt small scratches cover them as glass, silicon and sparks rained down on us. For a moment, all I could hear was the sounds of glass shattering and fire crackling merrily as a blaze began to engulf the store. Then, there was a sound I didn't recognize.

"No, no, no!" cried the Doctor, jumping up despite the raining debris. "They've phase shifted again, they're just gone!"

"Jeeze, teleporting between dimensions is a lot easier than I thought it would be," I said, easing myself up despite the growing heat from the fire.

"That's just it, it's not. That should be impossible, they should have even been able to do it once, let alone again so soon after their first emergency teleport. Where are they getting this much energy? The power it would take to maintain that sort of teleport… to use it whenever they needed… it would be like carrying a small galaxy around with you!"

As he spoke, the Doctor grabbed my arm and the two of us made our way through the rear exit of the building and out towards the parking lot.

"But they're just gone now?" I demanded, feeling somewhat let down after the build up of the laser and threat of danger to our lives.

"Don't complain," he said darkly.

"You are," I pointed out.

He just grinned at me.

"Well?" he asked expectantly.

"Well what?"

"Well! Don't you want to find out what the power source is? How the Daleks are doing it, hopping around from one universe to the next, skipping between solar systems like paving stones, darting between dimensions like… oh I don't know, devilishly dangerous Daleks?"

I giggled, mostly due to nerves, but the Doctor's excitement was unmistakable.

"What do you think it is?"

"I have absolutely no idea. Isn't that fantastic?" he said. "The whole of space and time and I haven't even heard of something like it!"

I looked up at the Doctor, remembering the secret longing I had felt when watching the show, the need to be _out there_, exploring all of time and space with him, and seeing in front of me the impossible, the Doctor himself, ready to dive into another adventure.

"You're going to look for it then?" I asked carefully. "The power source?" He nodded. "Alone?"

"Alone. Unless, of course, you thought maybe it'd be fun to come along. Just because, you know, I wouldn't want to leave you in suspense," he said casually.

You know I didn't even have to think about it.

"When are we leaving?" I asked, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.

"Right now," he said, smiling. With that, he held out his hand and I grabbed it tightly. Together we ran back to the TARDIS and to the start of my travels with the Doctor.

Wow. That took an absurdly long time to transcribe but now you know. Impossible, yes. Unbelievable, of course. And entirely true. I won't bore you with the minor details; we stopped off at my house, I had to tell my mom I wasn't dead and convince her I was driving back to school early with a friend. (I told her he was a medical student and she couldn't think anything bad of him. It wasn't really a lie….) I had to tell Clare the truth, and I promised her I'd try to keep up a journal. Every so often, it occurs to me that maybe I've just gone completely insane, that everything that's happened has been some overly vivid hallucination. But after nearly two weeks with the Doctor, I've already come to realize… I'd take the fake Doctor over the real earth any day.


	3. Human Error Part I

**December 29, 2008**

I promised I would describe the TARDIS. Obviously it's larger on the inside than the outside, it's a Time Lord technology. The main control deck is in the center of the ground floor and a mesh metal covering encases the power source, wiring and other control equipment. It's the strangest assortment of controls you could possibly imagine – you've got your usual levers and buttons, but there are these weird things that don't look like they'd be much good for anything. I swear that he has a toaster build into the flight deck. There's a hatch that opens up into a small staircase leading down below the controls to a sort of storage basement. I asked the Doctor if I could go down and he said it was fine as long as I didn't "release anything that looks like it could be alive" so I decided to wait on checking out the basement.

Another staircase leads up to the ground floor balcony, for lack of a better term, that overlooks the flight deck. From there, a spiral set of stairs goes up through three floors, one of bedrooms, one with a kitchen-y area and one at the top for more storage. As the Doctor was giving the grand TARDIS tour, I noticed something gold and… furry looking peaking out from behind a giant bookcase filled with a large assortment of famous first editions.

"What on earth is that? Or… not earth?" I asked staring at the incongruous object.

"Oh, it's a golden fleece," he said casually.

"As in, 'Jason and the Argonauts' golden fleece?" I gasped.

"Well it was mine first!" said the Doctor sounding slightly offended and I left it at that.

The kitchen was… as you'd except from a single guy living alone. Clearly in 900 years you can learn just about everything except how to keep things clean. At least I knew how I could make myself useful between near-death experiences.

There were four bedrooms on the TARDIS, three with plain, neatly made up beds and cushy arm chairs, clearly intended for guests. I hadn't asked the Doctor yet about previous guests before I had arrive. I wasn't sure how closely his own parallel universe matched that of my world's television show and I wasn't quite ready to know that I was the last in a long string of companions. I knew I'd find out eventually, but at the moment I was enjoying the idea that the Doctor traveled alone… except for me.

The fourth bedroom was the Doctor's and I only caught a glimpse of the inside, a disaster area nearly as messy as the kitchen and littered with half-built metal objects, spare pieces of equipment and partially-assembled silver devices.

Overall, the effect of the TARDIS was that of a nuclear reactor crossed with a poorly kept bachelor pad. It was nice.

"So," the Doctor asked, turning to me once we were inside the TARDIS. "Where do you want to go first?"

"I thought we were going to follow the Daleks, figure out what their energy source is," I said.

"Nah, chances of tracking them down now are next to impossible and you know, I always seem to end up running into them again whether I want to or not. So in the mean time, why not do some sightseeing?"

I laughed, and then stopped short, suddenly struck by the realization that all of space and time was open to my exploration.

"We can go anywhere…" I said breathlessly.

"Now you're getting it!" he replied.

"Alright… well… maybe we should start small. Like, the moon?" I suggested, hoping I might have a chance to test the waters before launching myself halfway across the universe.

"The moon!?" shouted the Doctor. "But the moon's _boring_. And empty. What's the point in going somewhere with no life? How about this, if you want to stay close to home, let's just pop, oh, say, five hundred… no, a thousand years into the future." As he was speaking, he began to jump around the TARDIS control deck, flicking switched, pulling levels, and popping down the button on that thing that looked like a toaster. "Hang on!"

There was a lot of loud noises, and a frightening lurch, then the TARDIS righted itself and the Doctor ran to the doors, throwing them open and with a mock bow and wave of his arm, gestured me forward. "After you, Miss. Kelley," he said smiling. Nervously, I followed him to the front of the ship and glanced outside. For just a moment, I thought that it hadn't worked again, and we hadn't moved at all. Then I noticed the line of cars flying overheard in addition to the ones traveling through the busy street, and noticed the strange, holographic people loitering in the street, half transparent in the midday sun. But all in all, the view was pretty similar to the world we had left. A row of perfectly ordinary-looking houses stood sat along the street and in the distance I could see a few office buildings reaching up towards the sky, company logos prominently featured in full view of the aerial traffic.

"Who are they?" I asked, pointing to the transparent people who were waving excitedly at us, beckoning us over.

"Just ignore them, they're just advertisements," said the Doctor, stepping out of the TARDIS and taking in the surroundings.

"What, you mean they're like people shaped billboards?" I said.

"Worse. If you pay too much attention to them, they'll go into full sales-pitch mode." Having only a few hours ago (was it really only a few hours ago? It felt more like days and days…) been faced with a shopping mall full of pushy sales clerks, I avoided any further eye contact with the humanoid advertisements.

"Ahh," sighed the Doctor, breathing in deeply. "Breathe in that clean year 3010 air."

"Does that mean that people have finally figured out how to stop polluting?"

"Nah, they've built an eco dome and pump all the pollutants out. At least in the bigger cities," he explained. "Come on, let's go."

"Go where? Is that how you learn about these places you travel to? Just by wandering around and hoping you run into something useful?"

"Er… exactly," he said, surprised by the question. "What would you do?"

"Well it's just like visiting another country, isn't it? What would I do? I'd go to a museum."

There was a beat.

"Well that's straightforward," said the Doctor with a shrug. "Alright, Noelle Kelley, we'll go to a museum."

He bounded over to one of the holographic people. She had a blinking blue light over her head and looked rather like a librarian with a small pair of glasses pushed up the ridge of her holographic nose, and her see-through hair pulled back into a tight bun. As the Doctor approached her, however, she became more and more solid until I would have sworn she was a real person standing that speaking to us.

"Local information. The current time is 11:29AM on Tuesday, April 14 3010. What is your inquiry?"

"Tell us about the local museums, got anything interesting that would tell us all about this world and time period better than just walking around and getting firsthand experience?" the Doctor asked without a glance at me but I felt the jibe. Okay, so maybe it was a newbie TARDIS traveler mistake to suggest going to a museum, but honestly, the sort of things the Doctor gets up to on that television show (which is starting to feel farther and farther from reality the deeper I sink into it) makes me wonder if I'll ever have a chance to get such a structured exploration of another time again.

"Museum listings are as follows," the woman said pleasantly. "Say the name of any listing for more information. Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Modern Arts, Museum of Natural History…"

"Ooh, Museum of Natural History," I said, cutting in and thinking back to my family trip to New York City when we had visited the Natural History Museum in the city. The Doctor nodded amiably and repeated. "Listing for Museum of Natural History."

"The Museum of Natural History, located 210 Park Way in downtown San Francisco is open daily from 9AM until 5PM. Admission is $23 for adults, $15 for students and $5 for children 5 and under. Tickets and memberships are available at the door. Current special exhibit floor features the Ralsberg Collection of Human Anatomy and Biological Sciences. To return to the listings menu, please say listings."

"That sounds incredible!" I said, already starting off towards the towering city structures with the Doctor following somewhat less enthusiastically in my wake.

"What's so interesting about human anatomy? It doesn't change much for at least another two thousand years… you humans are so afraid of change and evolution you basically force yourselves to stay the same. It's not going to be anything you haven't seen before."

"But think of the advanced technology they'll have for understanding the body, understanding all of biology!" I said, thinking back to what could almost have been another lifetime where I was working towards my biology degree.

By the time we had reached the museum, having had to stop at another information hologram person for directions, we had already spent over an hour wandering the streets of San Francisco Nuevo, as it seemed to be called.

"The original San Francisco was completely destroyed in the great earthquake of 2445," the Doctor had explained as we walked. "There are some conspiracy theorists who still claim that it survives as an independent nation somewhere off the Pacific coast, lost when part of the western sea board broke off down the fault line, but protected by the air dome, which had only been built a few years before. Of course, people searched and never found the city. Anyway, San Francisco Nuevo is a bit further inland and south and has been growing for the last four hundred years. Not bad for a new city."

The inside of the museum was… well, museum-like. It was cool and dark and small groups of people were milling about, glancing between stuffed displays of animals and their accompanying informational plaques. It was, I was forced to admit, pretty similar to anything I could have seen at home.

"Good afternoon," a voice directly in front of us said. I started in surprise before realizing it was another hologram that had materialized in front of us. "Welcome to the San Francisco Nuevo Museum of Natural History. If you need to buy a ticket, please exit the building and purchase one at the ticket window. Otherwise, please scan your ticket or membership card now." As the hologram finished speaking, it held its hand out palm down, and a faint blue light emitted from underneath. The Doctor pulled a leather notepad of what looked like blank paper out from his coat pocket and waved it twice through the blue scanner.

"Thank you for your visit, enjoy the museum. The Ralsberg Collection of Human Anatomy and Biological Sciences is down the hall and on the left," the hologram said simply and vanished.

"Well, come on, this is your field trip," said the Doctor who had gone ahead without realizing I was still a few steps behind, my mouth literally agape.

"It's just… you really have psychic paper," I said with a grin. The Doctor grinned back but still sounded a little bemused when he replied, "D'you know how odd it is to travel with someone who knows more about me than I know about them?"

We walked slowly down the hall which was full of posters of the museum's exhibits. The real centerpiece seemed to be this Ralsberg Collection which showed human bodies in various states of dissection, some with just the skin removed, some with all the muscles showing, others just as skeletons or wispy nervous systems, seemingly eternalized in an embalming gel. Other exhibits advertised included a recreation of early third millennium San Francisco, animals that had gone extinct long ago (among which I was upset to see white tigers, giant pandas and, for some strange reason, ostriches) and geological rock layers which seemed to include fairly sizable layers with names like "land fill" and "untouchable."

"Alright, let's see what all the fuss is about with this human anatomy collection," said the Doctor as we finally reached the entrance to the exhibit.

"Look just because we don't have two hearts doesn't mean the human body can't be just as…" I trailed off, unable to speak past the rising fear and nausea I felt as soon as I stepped into the exhibit hall.

"Interesting," the Doctor finished, sounding intrigued for the first time since we had arrived. Once I got over my initial disgust, I could sort of understand why: the human anatomy collection, the different bodies striped of various layers of epidermis or muscle, missing organs and displayed as the various bits that make up the human body, were all very much still alive.

-----

Author's note: Any reviews are appreciated! If you're enjoying the story, head over to http://noellekelley.  
livejournal.  
com/ to get instant updates in Noelle's journal as well as extras such as voice journal posts from Noelle, pictures and the ability to leave comments and questions for Noelle that might be included in the story itself!


	4. Human Error Part II

**Later**

This must be what it is like, traveling with the Doctor. I don't know how he finds himself in these situations. I guess you could call it being in the right place at the right time, but it has to be something more than that. Perhaps the TARDIS does more that he admits, guiding him to places where he can save the world again and again. All I'm saying is that if I had known what we were getting into, I might not have been so keen to see the museum exhibits.

The first horrific moment when I realized what I was looking at felt like something beyond fear. It was a twisted farce of a museum, a strange and terrifying alteration of what was right.

"Oh my god," I whispered, grabbing onto the Doctor's arm. "That's impossible. They're _alive_."

"Just like any good old fashioned horror movie," the Doctor agreed cheerfully. "Now this is interesting. There is something horribly wrong here, that's for sure."

"Well at least you agree with that, I thought you were going to say this was _normal_ in museums of the future. That person has no skin! Where I come from, that's called torture."

"There's something very odd going on here, I've never heard of anything quite like this before," the Doctor said. "Well, no other use for it, come on, let's talk to the locals." With that, he walked over to the first display. In a glass museum case, a human body with all of the muscles exposed sat eerily, half-afloat in a yellowish semi-solid liquid. At the top of the case, however, a perfectly ordinary human head of a middle-aged man was attached to the embalmed neck, looking around at the rest of the room. He seemed to be paying particular attention to a young woman who sat across the exhibit hall, a glass case embedded through her middle, with her internal organs exposed.

"Hullo," the Doctor said, approaching the muscle man. "Forgive what may be an obvious question but… you're alive?"

"Well with all of the money I'm paying I'd sure hope so!" the head replied with a slight southern twang.

"So… and I apologize for my stupidity, you're _paying_ to sit here while people stare at your insides?"

"Where've you been? It's the cheapest way to get medical work done these days since the ban on using cadavers for research and scientific displays."

"What do you mean, ban on using cadavers?" I cut in, surprised.

"You folks must be from way outside the cities! Lord, I'd say it's almost twenty years now. You, sugar, look young enough that you wouldn't even remember back when they used real dead people. When Bantam Pharmaceuticals came out with a method for recovering dead tissue, all the families of people who had donated their bodies to science wanted them back – to bring them back to life, you know. Of course, by that point, they had been dismembered and sent all over the world, or frozen, or otherwise completely destroyed. And there was a whole set that was part of a museum exhibit that had just gotten lost. There were huge lawsuits and it put a number of highly respected research firms out of business. So they passed a law that cadavers couldn't be used for research or science displays."

"But how do they do research now?" I demanded.

"Well they grow the parts, of course, much more ethical. And no defacing those who'd rather stay dead, and there's no chance of messing up bits of those who want to come back later."

"But what about you?" asked the Doctor. "How did you end up here?"

"Terminal cancer, isn't it?" he said nodding with his head downwards. "Right under the diaphragm muscle, I think it is. You know, you'd think I'd learn all about anatomy hanging out here, but I can't see the sign properly," he laughed, twisting his head as far as he could to indicate that the informational diagram describing him was out of his vision. I felt vaguely ill again. "Cancer of the stomach," he continued. "And I don't have the money for a transplant or full internal organ replacement, so museums and research firms set up these systems, see? I pay a small fee every month, go on display with my body held in a medical stasis until I've covered the cost of the doctor's fees. Then the museum or research firm sends us off to be treated and we're all set. Perfectly safe and saves the lives of thousands of people. Not to mention allows research and studies to be done on natural human anatomy."

He smiled at us, excited by the opportunity he saw to save his own life.

The Doctor was engrossed in the sign next to the muscle man and I peered over his shoulder to read it as well.

_Every muscle in the human body comes in a pair, one to extend and one to contract, allowing every movement of which you are capable. Shown here is the complete muscular structure of an adult male. Muscles are attached to bones by thin connective tissue called ligaments._

_The model show here, Jason Harrison, is suffering from terminal cancer of the stomach and has been with the exhibit since 3007. Thanks to the work of Bantam Pharmaceuticals, exhibit sponsor, Jason will be able to replace his stomach with a new, cancer free model by 3011._

"Well Jason, it was a pleasure to meet you," the Doctor said to the muscle man's head. "You have excellent muscular structure."

"Aw, you'll make me blush," he said gruffly, looking pleased. "Of course, it's this stuff they've got me set in, flowing through my veins. Acts as a muscle stimulant, pain reliever and food source. But I was a pretty good sportsman back in the day…."

"Excellent, that's great," the Doctor cut him off. "Well, off to the rest of the exhibit then. Good luck with the stomach Jason."

"So that's how it works, then," I said quietly as we walked away from the exposed Jason Harrison. "In a thousand years, people can live forever… at the cost of being a museum exhibit. I can't imagine how people get used to that. But I guess what's normal changes… maybe it's all for the best if he's really sick and this will make him healthy but…." I was rambling and the Doctor broke in.

"This is not normal. This is, in fact, very far from normal. I'd go so far as to say downright odd."

He walked across the room to a case where someone's nervous system was floating in the yellowish gel, faint sparks shining through the glass casing as the synapses fired up and down the body. To the left, a digital screen seemed to be wired into the live nervous system.

"Can you hear me?" the Doctor asked, peering in through the glass.

"Yes and please do not stand so close, you are blocking light from my optic nerve," the words appeared on the screen as the firing electrical currents through the wire-like cells increased. The Doctor stepped to the side quickly.

"Doctor, look at this," I called, staring at the informational sign next to the display.

_The nervous system is divided into two distinct segments, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord. See if you can find the different parts of the nervous system in the display!_

_Anna Talbot suffered a major heart attack and necrosis of several limbs due to blood loss. Her nervous system has been preserved for this exhibit since 3001 and thanks to the work of Bantam Pharmaceuticals, Anna's nervous system should be placed in a new body in the next few years._

"She's been here for almost ten years like this," I said, shivering. "Just staring straight ahead, unable to speak… it's awful!"

"They do move the exhibits from city to city. I would have died without BP and the Ralsberg research exhibit," the screen readout said in what I imagined would have been an offended voice. The Doctor had already moved to another exhibit where a young boy lay motionless on a display table, his heart and lungs exposed to the passing visitors.

"You there," he said, staring down at the boy. "Don't your parents have a problem with people staring at your innards for years until they can pay for a… whatever it is you need?"

"Heart transplant," the boy replied calmly. "If you look closely around the walls of the heart you can see the aneurism that that would have killed me. And my parents signed the forms to send me here."

"When was that? Do they ever come to visit?" asked the Doctor.

"I think they don't like seeing my insides," the boy said a bit sadly. "They haven't come to visit yet, the last time I saw them was at the hospital where I was staying when I had heart problems."

Family groups were moving through the room, admiring various internal organs and anatomical structures and for a moment, on behalf of the models in the room, I felt very exposed. One father was pointing out how lungs were taking in air and explaining the process to his daughter who couldn't be more than seven or eight. I was still taking in the scene when I noticed the Doctor surreptitiously remove the sonic screwdriver and slide over to the door marked "Museum Staff Only."

"What are you doing?" I hissed, joining him next to the door.

"Ahh, a room full of creepily complacent floating body parts, a multinational pharmaceutical corporation that can bring people back to life and the most twisted ethical standards in the universe and what do you think I'm going to do?" The door popped open and the Doctor grabbed my hand and pulled me through, shutting it swiftly behind us. "I'm going exploring."

I rolled my eyes but had no choice but to follow along.

"There's got to be something here," the Doctor was saying. "I need files on who these people are, their backgrounds, anything…."

"Why? It says right there who they are," I said, jogging to keep up with the frantic pace at which the Doctor was moving through the dark hallways.

"I find it hard to believe that a culture that won't allow cadavers to be used for medical experimentation is allowing live people to be part of a museum exhibit that takes their bodies apart. That boy said his parents hadn't even come to visit him. There's something funny going on here, I want to find out where these people are coming from."

"It's a museum exhibit, it's not like it's some secret testing facility underground. You saw those people, it's just another display case to them, even the kids. Maybe it's like this everywhere."

"I'm not denying that it is. I just want to find out why. A haa," he finished, turning a corner to see a huge pile of boxes, some of which had clearly been designed for the people on display in the museum. I even thought I saw a box fitted with a special head rest for Jason the muscle man. The Doctor was already focusing his sonic screwdriver on a set of reinforced filing cabinets at the back of the pile.

"Oh ho, there must be something good in here," he said, sounding excited. "They have this thing triple locked… too bad for them I have a sonic screwdriver…" the locks clicked open one by one and without hesitation the Doctor dove into the piles of papers concealed in the case. He flipped open one file and as he stared at it, his face changed, becoming more and more grim. With hardly a glance back, he tossed the file to me and reached for another one. I caught it reflexively, unwilling to see what was inside. Was it pictures of their operations? Their medical history, detailing the horrible things that had happened to their bodies before they entered the exhibit?

"What is it Doctor?" I asked as he pulled file after file out of the drawer.

"Take a look for yourself," he said, indicating the papers I held in my hands. The name on the spine of the file was Anna Talbot, the live nervous system that had spent ten years in her case. I hesitantly opened the manila file and it took me a minute to realize what it was that had struck the Doctor immediately. There, on the top of the file was a photocopy of a death certificate in Anna's name.

I rushed over to the Doctor and looking down saw he had removed a pile of death certificates, one for each of the museum exhibit people.

"But… if they're officially dead… then that means…" I started, feeling uncomfortable.

"That means that there's no one waiting for them to recover, no one expecting them to get better, and no reason this Bantam Pharmaceuticals ever has to follow through with some expensive operation," the Doctor said angrily. "I was right to think there's something wrong here. Come on Noelle, I have some more questions for those people!"

He sprinted back down the hall and through the door back into the exhibit while I tried as best I could to keep up. By the time I had joined him, he was face to face with Jason the muscle man.

"So who exactly knows you're here," he demanded. "You have a wife? Kids? Siblings?"

"Well my wife knows I'm here! She has to seeing as she's helping pay for the operation. Who are you anyway?" Jason said, still sounding calm.

"I'm the Doctor."

"The BP doctor? Am I'm going to get my transplant early?"

"No. Jason, has your wife ever been to visit you? Even once while you've been in this exhibit?"

"I suppose not come to think of it, but we're not from the city and it's hard to get in if you live outside the eco domes. All the cities are connected by rail, you see, keeping the eco dome air fresh. For people like me who live outside the cities, it's harder to get in. It's not like you can just pop in for a visit. My wife writes, though. I get a email from her every month."

"And does it sound like she's happy? Waiting to see you?" the Doctor pressed on urgently.

"Well it's always the same sort of thing, really, she misses me, can't wait to see me healthy, the kids are fine…. What's all this about then?"

The Doctor was cut short from responding when two men in lab coats and Bantam Pharmaceuticals ID tags walked into the exhibit and over to the young boy with the heart aneurism. The museum patrons stared, intrigued, as the men in lab coats began to unfasten the boy and his casing from the display table.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" called one of the coats. "This is a wonderful day for Andy who has been a part of the Ralsberg exhibit for the last three years because today the research facilities of Bantam Pharm will replace his heart with a healthy one and Andy will be sent home to join his family!" There was a burst of applause from the gathered visitors and Andy grinned, waving awkwardly from his prone position.

"So where do they take a boy who's officially dead, and what do they do with him?" the Doctor whispered, edging towards the door. "Noelle, I think I've had quite enough of museums for one day. How about we visit a research facility?" He grinned but all I felt was slightly queasy.

---

AN: Please read and review! Also note that the dates and times aren't going to line up exactly right as Noelle's travels through time with the Doctor tend to mess up her perception of when things are happening. Generally, however, she has a chance to update in the morning and in the evening.


	5. Human Error Part III

**December 30, 2007**

I thought last night would never end. I have never been more exhausted in my life. I'll see if I can finish this before I pass out but god, I'm looking forward to a good night's… er… day's sleep. Right, where was I?

We followed the lab coats as they carried Andy out of the museum and into a waiting car parked outside. It looked a little like an ambulance but instead of the traditional red cross symbol, the side was decaled with the Bantam logo, the caduceus symbol of two snakes wound around a winged staff with the shape of a glowing sun illuminating it from behind. The name, _Bantam Pharmaceuticals_ was prominently featured.

As the Bantam doctors loaded the boy into the car, one of them, a young man with sandy-colored hair, noticed us watching and smiled at us, beaming with the self-satisfaction of someone saving a life. Once the boy was safely secured in the back of the transport, he came over to us, still looking pleased with himself.

"It's pretty amazing, isn't it? Saving lives like this? Of course, I'm only transport but the things they do at BP are just incredible. Here… have a pamphlet." The Doctor accepted the folded brochure that the medic had produced from his lab coat cheerfully.

"Ooh, a pamphlet. Look Noelle, they've got pamphlets. They are well organized."

"Sorry sir, didn't catch your name," the happy lab coat said.

"Maybe I should have pamphlets," the Doctor added under his breath. "I'm the Doctor. Thanks for the pamphlet, wouldn't want to distract you from life saving."

"That's right," the young man said, seeming to suddenly remember why he was so happy. "That poor boy has waited long enough!" With that he jumped into the driver's seat of the car and sped off.

"He truly thought he was saving that boy's life," I said, staring after the vanishing car. "Aren't we going to follow them? Doctor?" I turned but the Doctor was no longer standing next to me, having taken a seat on a bench a few yards away, engrossed in the handout from the Bantam employee.

"Noelle, take a look at this," he called and I sat down next to him, reading over his shoulder.

_Since 2992 Bantam Pharmaceuticals has been the foremost medical developer of artificial organs, limbs, nervous systems, circulatory systems and more. People from all over the world have benefited from Bantam surgical procedures, saving thousands of lives and improving the quality of living for every patient to walk through our doors._

_Bantam Pharmaceuticals may be best known for their work in regrowing dead tissues, a procedure which has reunited many loved ones after an unforeseen case of death and prolonging life in a safe and healthy way for all Bantam patients._

_To schedule your confidential on-site consultation, or for a tour of the facilities, please contact our private hospitality staff at your earliest convenience._

"An 'unforeseen case of death'?" I demanded. "Aren't most cases of death unforeseen? And do they really think they can bring dead people back to life?"

"There is something decidedly fishy going on here," agreed the Doctor.

"Aren't we going after the car and Andy?" I asked again, having had a moment to take in the true business behind Bantam.

"Why would we do that? I think it's time to schedule our confidential on-site consultation," he said, indicating the address listed on the pamphlet. "Noelle Kelley, I have two hearts pumping away in this chest cavity of mine, and I'm quite sure at least one could do with an upgrade. To Bantam!"

The Bantam complex looked more like a regular hospital rather than a research facility. The entrance opened into a comfortable visitor's area.

"Oh would you look at that, they've got a shop and everything!" said the Doctor happily. I scowled.

"Want to buy a teddy bear for some of the recently undeceased?" I asked, still slightly put off by the whole idea of bringing dead people back to life.

"This is quite the swanky operation," the Doctor said, ignoring me and looking around critically. He was right. There was an air of money about the place and its patrons that you got when sitting in a first class airways lounge or in an overpriced five-star restaurant. We must not have quite looked the part, for another lab-coated employee was already rushing towards us. She looked at us, seemingly annoyed by our presence and as soon as she was in earshot began, "I'm sorry, these are private facilities and consultations are by appointment only. I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises…." The Doctor cut her off.

"No, no, we're supposed to be here, see? Look," he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the psychic paper and waving it in front of the receptionist. She tried to avoid looking at it for a moment, still convinced we were time-wasting riff-raff but finally she glanced down and stepped back with a horrified yet respectful look at the Doctor.

"Sir! Well… I'm so sorry, I must have mistaken you for someone else. Please, let me take you to the private waiting room and I'll have Doctor Ralsberg himself see to your directly. This way please."

She hurried off, leading us through the building and avoiding any possibility of eye contact with either of us.

"Who did she think you were?" I whispered as we followed along. The Doctor glanced down at the psychic paper and chuckled.

"Prince of Scotland apparently. That's convenient."

"Your highness, if you would like to wait in here, I'll send the doctor in shortly," our guide said, opening a door at the end of the hallway and gesturing us inside, then hurrying away quickly.

The Doctor was clearly impressed by the room, which was good because I didn't want to seem too much like a tourist and the entire set up completely blew me away. Rich mahogoney chairs with maroon velvet coverings stood around a glass and iron table where a bucket of ice and bottles of some sort of sparkling beverage were waiting to be used. In front of each seat was a booklet that looked like a more in-depth version of the pamphlet we had received earlier. Along the walls were rows of television monitors, all showing the same clips of happy, smiling families being reunited with healthy loved ones after an operation at Bantam. I stared in fascination as the video showed a woman lying, pale and stiff on an operating table as the color rose in her cheeks and her eyes opened. I turned around, expecting to find the Doctor also engrossed in the video only to see that he had pried one of the screens off the wall and was fiddling with the wires in the back.

"What on earth are you doing?" I asked, surprised and not a little nervous about the sort of reception we would receive once we had been found to be vandalizing the first class rooms.

"It's hooked up to a computer system," he replied distractedly. "If I can just… rewire the system so that I can get into the main databases of the facility… ah! There we go."

The screens had all suddenly cleared of the promotional video and in their place was a computer user interface. As the Doctor clicked through various databases and files, the screens flickered faster than I could possibly read. Something the Doctor was seeing, however, was not meeting with his approval and for lack of anything better to do, I simply kept glancing nervously at the heavy door.

"This can't be right… ug, that's hideous," he muttered. Distracted by the complete disgust in his voice, I knelt down beside him to see if I could make sense of what he was looking at. The moment I turned away from the door, however, it burst open and a rather short, balding man wearing a pair of thick glasses entered the room, flanked by three more men in white lab coats.

"Good lord," the man in glasses exclaimed. "What have you done to the video monitors? You're not Prince Henry, who the hell are you?" The Doctor glared up at him, his eyes stormy and dangerous. When he spoke, his voice was cold as ice.

"Charles Ralsberg, I take it. That's right, I'm not Prince Henry, although I did meet him once," he said aside to me in a completely different voice. "Prince Henry the Navigator that is. Ah, 1399 was a great year."

"What is this?" exploded Doctor Ralsberg, glancing between the Doctor and me in horror. "Who are you people?"

"Why do you want to know, Ralsberg? So you can gauge how much money we have? Maybe if I have enough you can treat me but if not I'm sure you could find something to do with me, isn't that right?"

"I… I have no idea what you're talking about," Doctor Ralsberg replied, sounding nervous.

"Really? So it would come as a complete surprise to you to know that you have never once in your career regenerated dead tissue? That after billions of dollars of research and years of promotion you can't so much as bring a blood cell back to life, let alone a whole body?"

"How dare you! We have records… proof, recovered patients. Our transplant system is the best in the world!" said Ralsberg.

"Ahh, yes, well your transplant system is advanced and that's the thing isn't it. You got as far as discovering, through all your trial and error, the best way to transplant an organ, you even got as far as finding a serum that would hold organs and bodies in a stasis indefinitely if held in place and provided with the right nutrition. But that wasn't going to help your investors. No, you claimed you could bring the _dead_ back to _life_!" The Doctor was shouting now. "You were running out of money, Doctor Ralsberg, weren't you? And you didn't have anything to show for your work. And sooner or later, someone, most likely one of your competitors, was going to catch on. So what did you do? You did your homework. You hunted down records of cadavers that had been donated to science and had been lost or completely destroyed and then announced that you had found a way to revive the dead and were willing to offer your services, free of charges to the families of those men and women who had donated their bodies to science. Didn't anyone notice that all the law suits against your competitors for 'destroying scientific cadavers' in unethical ways came from your company? How, after the families got their settlement, a large portion of the money, money that bankrupted your competitors, went right to Bantam Pharmaceuticals?"

I was barely following along but Doctor Ralsberg had turned ashen and was sweating profusely. The Doctor continued.

"Convenient that you never actually had to bring any of those people back to life. Quite the coincidence that all the people you selected for your initial free tests were unable to participate. But then, you still had a reputation to maintain. You opened your doors to the public and the rich and mighty came streaming in. They didn't want to wait to go through the awkward process of dying, they wanted new organs, new body parts, and they wanted them now. So what did you do? You couldn't grow enough parts and you'd already helped pass a law that made medical and science testing and use of cadavers illegal so you didn't use cadavers. You used live people. You took live people from hospitals and their homes all over the world, telling them that, for just a few years as a museum exhibit or living in a research lab, they would be brought back to health fully. Their families thought they were dead, there was no one to miss them, and you could use your serum to hold their bodies in a stasis until someone with a big enough wallet came in to buy their parts. You've been holding humans, showcasing them in _exhibits_, _testing _on them, and harvesting their internal parts for anyone who can pay the price. AND you've managed to make everyone believe it's ethical!"

The Doctor took a deep breath, shaking in anger. The moment was just enough for Ralsberg to regain some semblance of composure.

"I don't know who you are or what you think you know. This is breaking and entering!"

"Fine, call the police. Just wait until they hear what I've got on you!" said the Doctor triumphantly.

"Ah, well, I have no intention of calling the police," Ralsberg said delicately, mopping the beading sweat from his brow with a sleeve corner. "Bantam Pharm's research and treatment facilities cover just over three square miles and is such an important destination for clients from all over the world, it was deemed its own independent nation. I don't know how much history you are familiar with, historical studies are a passion of mine anyhow, and you may think of it like the Vatican state within Italy. Completely independent with its own economy, zip code, and legal system. You're under arrest."

Faster than I could have imagined, the three men in lab coats beside Doctor Ralsberg pulled out shiny metal blaster guns and surrounded us.

"This will be easiest for you if you come clean Ralsberg. Admit what you've done and ask the people of the world to find it in their hearts to forgive you," said the Doctor coldly.

"Are you kidding?" said Ralsberg, actually beginning to laugh. "I don't anticipate I'll ever be seeing either of you again. At least not in that skin." It was his surprisingly high-pitched laugh that followed us out of the room as the armed men ushered us out of the waiting room and down into the lower levels of the Bantam research complex.

It's not that I mean to end on such a cliff-hanger! I just can't keep my eyes open another minute. I promise I'll get my journal caught up soon…. Assuming I have all appendages when I wake up….


	6. Human Error Part IV

**Later**

The guards directed us into what appeared to be a service elevator and we started downwards. It's always hard to tell how fast you're traveling in elevators, but I got the impression the building went a lot further underground than I could have imagined possible. The Doctor seemed thoroughly unphased by our predicament and keep looking around with a keen interest at the guards. Finally the elevator jerked to a halt and opened into a dark hall. Although the lights were off and there were no windows, it could have been the hallway of a typical twenty-first century hospital. In fact, it looked so much like a typical twenty-first century hospital that I wondered for a moment if the elevator had been some sort of time traveling device too. At this point I could believe anything.

Silently, we were ushered into one of the patient examination rooms, another windowless box, and locked in. The Doctor seemed hesitant to enter the room at first and one of the guards gave him a small shove and closed the door behind him. The sound of the guard's footsteps faded away in the distance. The total time it had taken to enter the building, be escorted up to the first class waiting room, then unceremoniously imprisoned some number of floors below couldn't have been more than a quarter of an hour. I kept feeling as if I were expected to make some sort of witty remark about our situation but I was still reeling from the shock of the whole thing. I tried to remember exactly where the TARDIS was, but was having trouble mentally backtracking our steps between the Bantam labs, the museum and the residential area where we had landed. For a few minutes, I started expectantly at the Doctor waiting for some hint of what we were going to do next but he was incredibly unforthcoming with any information. I tapped my foot but he ignored me, seemingly distracted by something on his coat that I couldn't see.

"Well?" I said finally. "What are we going to do?"

"I need you to take off my coat," he said, matter-of-factly. Caught off guard, I stared at him in shock. "And carefully."

"Why can't you take your own coat off? Why are we removing clothing? You know I don't think this is really the time to…"

The Doctor cut me off. "When the guard pushed me. Got DNA all over my jacket. I don't want to risk rubbing it off or mixing it up. Just grab the collar and help me slide out of the jacket so I can examine it."

Feeling foolish, I did so and watched as the Doctor stared intently at the sleeve under the light of his sonic screwdriver.

"Ooh, I haven't seen this sort of genetic structure in _years_," he said, some excitement creeping back into his voice. "This is from a long way off…. Wonder how they ended up here…." He was talking to himself but I had to interject.

"What, you mean they're not human?"

"Well of course they're not human. Did they seem human to you?" I didn't want to admit that they, in fact, had. "Didn't say a word the whole time. If there's one thing you people like to do, it's talk. Plus their hair was slightly blue."

"I just thought it was really dark black," I said. "So what are they?"

"Give us just a minute… they're from the Tfoss system and it looks like… yes! They're Orcims. Now that's an interesting, and rather unlucky race. Sort of people that makes you wonder what, exactly, evolution had had at the pub the night before selecting for them."

"What's an Orc-im?" I asked, trying out the name.

"Super intelligent, intensely competitive race of money-obsessed entrepreneurs. They're famous throughout the universe for being some of the most money-hungry creatures in existence. They'd do anything to make a credit but often they don't need to as they're quite apt at running inter-galactic businesses. They mimic the bodies of the dominant species on the planets where they work, which is why they looked human here."

"So why do you say they're unlucky? Sounds pretty good to me," I said.

"You would think so. But they're basically cannibals. Practically destroyed the entire race – it's not just fighting between them, they actually prefer to eat the flesh of their own species. The planet Orcim is abandoned now – small groups, that keep getting smaller, mind you – spread out across the galaxies to begin their own businesses and keep their species alive, " he explained.

"Ugg, that's disgusting! But what do they eat if they aren't…you know… eating each other?"

"Basically they like fresh internal organs of most highly evolved species, it has something to do with the basic cellular structure and… and the…" he trailed off, his eyes widening. "Clever Orcims… that's brilliant, well, slightly off putting and brilliant, well, really quite disgusting and off putting _and _brilliant."

"What's so brilliant?" I asked, annoyed. "So a money grubbing race of cannibals lands on earth and takes over a research facility."

"A research facility that specializes in growing, regenerating and increasing the longevity of highly evolved earth mammals such as humans…" the Doctor prompted patiently and suddenly it hit me like a punch to the stomach.

"You mean they're _eating_ the patients?" I gasped, swallowing a wave of nausea.

"Not at all," the Doctor said. "They're eating the leftovers. They hold those people in museums and research facilities while they're still alive, use them to continue to test their medical practices; then use that research to attract the highest paying clients; steal the organs from their museums exhibits, who, by the way, are paying to have their life prolonged so that's another source of income; implant the organs into their wealthy patients and eat what's left of the bodies. Keeps them from going after each other, for the time being, and makes a tidy profit in the meantime."

"That is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard," I said. "And from the looks of it, I'm going to end up as some old guy's new liver and dinner for some crazy aliens from Capitalist-land. Lovely."

"Orcim," the Doctor corrected, either missing or ignoring my sarcasm. "And I don't expect we'll be donating any parts to science quite yet Noelle Kelley. What do you say we check out of this hospital?"

I smiled widely as he zapped the locked door with the sonic screwdriver. After a moment, the lock clicked and the door opened easily. We ran down the hall, back towards the elevator when both the Doctor and I heard, at the same moment, distinct sound of someone calling for help.

"How many people do you think they've got down here?" I asked nervously, thinking back to the exposed people at the museum and very much hoping not to see any more internal organs that night.

"Not many," replied the Doctor, walking towards where we had heard the voice. "Hullo? Hullo there! Knock on your door if you'd like us to let you out." Immediately there was a loud, frantic knocking on the door two examination rooms down from the one we had vacated moments before. "Guess he wants to come out," the Doctor said aside to me with a grin and aimed the sonic screwdriver at the door until I heard a second click and the knob turned slowly.

I watched apprehensively, and the Doctor with undisguised interest, as the door opened and a gaunt, dirty-looking man edged out of the room. He stood shakily in the hall, glancing around as if he expected someone to throw him back into the room at any moment. Then, he turned to face us and with a shock of recognition I realized that I knew him. In fact, I had seen him just minutes before looking much healthier and happier. It was none other than Doctor Charles Ralsberg.

"Fifteen years," Ralsberg croaked. "I haven't set foot outside that room in fifteen years." He wavered slightly and put his hand up to the wall to steady himself. While the man we had seen upstairs looked a healthy forty or so years old, this version, presumably the same age, could have passed for sixty. "Who are you?" he asked, suddenly remembering why he was standing outside the examination room.

"I'm Noelle Kelley," I said. "And this is the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" Ralsberg said, cowering slightly. "Not one of _their_ doctors? Doctor who?"

I fought the terribly inappropriate urge to laugh.

"No," replied the Doctor gently. "Not one of their doctors at all. Now why don't you tell us what happened here."

"We don't have much time, we have to get out of here. They'll be coming to give me my injection soon," he said nervously.

"What injection?" I asked.

"Using the serum I developed. I derived a chemical compound that I could store in liquid form and inject into organs to keep them fresh for much longer. It revolutionized the way transplanted organs could be stored or used. Now it's been keeping me alive… or something close to alive… these last fifteen years in there." He sighed and looked beseechingly up at the Doctor.

"I guess that's where it all started," Ralsberg said, resigning himself to tell his story. "I founded Bantam Pharmaceuticals right after med school. I had all these ideas about how to make the world a better, healthier, safer place. It all sounds like idealistic nonsense now. I was married, my girlfriend from school and I had finally tied the knot and we had a baby on the way, I was getting quite a bit of funding and I had just finished the prototype for my longevity serum. Everything was perfect."

"This is the part in the story where terrible things start to happen," the Doctor said knowledgably to me. I hit him on the shoulder to make him shut up – the dejected Ralsberg hardly noticed but I figured he could use all the encouragement he could get.

"My wife died from a heart failure just six weeks before the baby was due. The doctors messed up, they might have saved the baby but they thought they could revive my wife in time. Both she and the baby died from brain failure when the heart stopped transporting blood to their brains. After that point I became obsessed with the idea that with some tweaking, I could modify my serum not just to preserve organs, but to actually bring dead tissue back to life, bring my wife and baby back. I guess it was a pretty popular idea, and investors started offering more money that I could have ever dreamed of – not that it meant anything to me any more. I bought these facilities, they're famous you know, this whole area used to be a major medical college and adjoining hospitals and over the years, new buildings hadn't replaced old ones, but had actually been built on top of them, and the older structures sunk into the ground. That's why these facilities look so ancient, they're the original hospital. The theory was, we might find some use for the old equipment and data."

The Doctor and I were listening intently. Even Ralsberg seemed to have gotten caught up in his own story and had begun to speak in a steadier voice.

"Then one day, a man calling himself Mr. Orcim made an appointment to see me. He said that he could help me make my company truly great, help me make billions of dollars. I told him I didn't care about money, all I wanted was to find a way to bring my wife back. I don't really remember, it was so long ago. But I do remember he got angry, told me I was stupid not to accept his offer, that humans were the most like him as any other race he'd encountered. I didn't know what he meant at first but then, suddenly, he wasn't a man anymore, he was some sort of monster. I know it sounds impossible, sometimes I wonder if maybe I died then too, if this has all been some terrible hell, or I'm hallucinating…."

Ralsberg's concerns were staggeringly similar to my own at this point but I wasn't sure that would be a helpful comment so I kept quiet.

"The next thing I knew, I had been locked down here. I know he looks like me now, but it's not me… he shows me what he's been doing, thinks it's funny to bring me newspapers, press releases, and patient files. I've had to watch as he's turned my company and everything that I've worked for into a death machine of the poor that prolongs the life of anyone who can pay the price."

The Doctor nodded sympathetically and I patted Ralsberg on the back, my eyes feeling slightly moist.

"Doctor Ralsberg," said the Doctor. "You know that once everything Bantam has done becomes public you will never be a doctor again."

"I haven't been a doctor in fifteen years. I don't know if I could start again even if they would let me. And as far as I'm concerned, Bantam has been gone since I've been locked in here. I only wish I had found some way of stopping him but now there's nothing anyone can do. He's made this terrible harvesting of organs part of the culture… visible and public so no one suspects a thing."

"Yes, yes, that is fiendishly clever of him, but chin up Doctor Ralsberg! I think all you need is a nice visit to the doctor's office upstairs and we'll get you all fixed up. On we go!" said the Doctor cheerily. I gave him a look. He was clearly having way too much fun with his doctor puns, next time I was definitely going to choose the art museum.

The last thing I wanted to do was return to the office of the fake Ralsberg, especially now that I knew he was an alien who saw me as nothing more than a meal on legs. The Doctor had already started moving, however, and Ralsberg and I had no choice but to follow. On the of-chance that I might actually be of some use this time around, I hastily grabbed a flimsy-looking scalpel blade from a table as we headed back to the elevator and slid it into my pocket.

With another zap of the sonic screwdriver, we were in the service elevator, silently ascending back through the research complex. I thought about what Ralsberg had said – that over the years, the hospital had been sunk into the ground and built upwards. I wondered if the rooms we had been locked in before were actually around during my time. As we rose upwards, I wished that I might be able to see the floors we were passing; a chronology of hospital history, but it was a passing thought that vanished as soon as the elevator doors opened. The fake Ralsberg was standing in front of the elevator waiting to go down.

"Oh, _hello,_" said the Doctor, sounding disturbingly happy to see the alien. "You know we were just talking about you. I don't have an appointment but maybe you could squeeze me into your schedule?"

"The doctor puns really have to stop," I said under my breath to him, nudging him with my elbow.

"But they're just so hard to resist!" he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. I couldn't tell if he was excited or preparing for a fight. Either way, he pushed his way out of the elevator and the real Ralsberg and I followed.

"You!" growled the Orcim angrily.

"Yes, me!" said the Doctor with a grin but the Orcim looked at him as if slightly confused by his presences.

"No, not you. You!" he pointed at Ralsberg. "How did you get out? What have you been telling them?"

"They let me out, and nothing they didn't already know Mr. Orcim."

The Orcim just looked confused. "You've never even tried to escape before."

"Pardon me," broke in the Doctor. "I hate to stand in the way of progress and research but I have a medical facility to shut down."

"And who the hell are you?" snarled the Orcim, rounding on the Doctor.

"I'm the Doctor and you're a long way from home. Why would Orcims come to earth? Even today they've barely scratched the surface of space travel, it's not like this is a good site to set up a Milky Way branch of whatever company you're running now."

If the Orcim was phased by the fact the Doctor knew what he was, he didn't show it.

"Choose? _Choose??_ No one would choose to live on this god-forsaken planet. We crashed twenty years ago and haven't been able to rebuild the ship. But then we learned about these people… the _humans_. And nowhere in the universe have I seen a race more like the Orcims. Oh it was too easy, finding a medical company that would provide us with food, and building it up, taking out the competition through law suits, catering to the wealthy. This planet is as close to Orcim as anything I've ever seen."

"We don't eat other people!" I cried, breaking into his monologue.

"You might as well," he replied, and as he was speaking, his form began to lengthen and his flesh-colored exterior darkened into a midnight blue. A ridge of spikes arose on his back and head and his eyes widened until they were impossibly large on his head. I had to admit it, I was standing in front of a real, live, blue, very angry-looking, alien.

"You people with your fake sincerity and your research and your charity," he continued, his voice rasping. "When you'd overlook anything to make money. I love it. And I don't intend on leaving. There's no one who can compete with me here, no one. I became a trillionare the day we took the company public! I can feed properly for the first time since leaving Orcim!" I winced, remembering what that food source entailed.

"And what about your fellow Orcims? They're perfectly happy with this whole situation?" asked the Doctor.

"Why don't you ask them yourself. Better be quick, though, we're hungry," came the laughing response. I felt something scaly wrap around my arm and screamed, jumping around. Three more giant blue Orcims, who must have been the guards, had moved down the hall behind us. We were surrounded.

"You have to stop this!" insisted the Doctor. "These people aren't like you, there's so much more to them than that!"

"Give it another ten years," scoffed the Orcim who used to look like Ralsberg. "Humanity is well on its way to being entirely Orcim but I suppose you won't be around to witness it. Goodbye."

The Orcims drew closer and I screamed again, jumping back against the wall and pressing myself to it as if I might pass through the solid plaster. As I did so, something sharp stung my side. I reached down and felt the scalpel blade still in my pocket. The Doctor and Ralsberg were struggling with their own Orcims and I seemed to be on my own. Armed with the tiny edge, I waved it frantically at the oncoming alien who just make a croaking sound that must have been laughter. I closed my eyes and swung my arm again and, in what came as a shock to everyone in the room, landed a cut on the Orcim. For a moment, everyone in the room paused and a spicy, not entirely unpleasant, smell arose from the cut I had opened. The Doctor and Ralsberg moved away from their distracted captors and gestured me to join them but I was staring in shock as the other three Orcims moved as if hypnotized towards the one I had just cut whose eyes widened in horror.

"Noelle, _get out of the way!_" shouted the Doctor who finally darted forward and grabbed my arm, pulling me back just as the Orcims decended on their injured companion. I turned away, hiding my eyes but couldn't block the awful sounds from my ears.

When I finally looked back at the carnage there was just one Orcim left, twitching feebly.

"How can that do that to each other?" I asked the Doctor.

"Imagine you've been living on dirt and grass for twenty years and someone puts a filet mignon in front of you," he said, sounding put out. "They're a doomed race." He walked over to the last living Orcim and shone the sonic screwdriver in its eye. "This one isn't going to make it. Talk about a last meal."

The rest of the night was rather anticlimactic. Doctor Ralsberg was understandably distraught at what had become of his facility but swore that he would destroy every one of the organ harvesting structures the Orcims had put in place.

"You might lose your license," the Doctor had told him. "But you're still a doctor. Do what you can for the people who have been living in the museums, save those you can, put the rest out of their misery if they wish, at least let their families know what happened."

We took one of the Bantam ambulances back to the TARDIS, still sitting safely where we had left it and surrounded by the strange holographic advertising people. Dawn was beginning to break over the city of San Francisco Nuevo and I could sort of make out the Bantam facility in the distance.

Both the Doctor and I were exhausted and just about fell up the stairs towards the bedrooms but before I began to transcribe what had happened and got some sleep, I had to know.

"Doctor, do you think they can really undo what the Orcims had done? Are people really too greedy? What if Doctor Ralsberg keeps on running the company just as the Orcims did?"

"Aw, come on, give yourselves a bit more credit than that. Do you honestly think you're just like the Orcims? Besides, I didn't want to give away the ending, not least of all because in doing so I might have changed history forever, but ten years from now Doctor Ralsberg wins the Nobel peace prize for using the money and structure of his business to provide true, low cost medicine to those who need it throughout the world."

"That seemed awfully simple," I said, surprised that it had all worked out so well.

"It's not always," replied the Doctor, a bit sadly and I could tell he was remembering something I hadn't seen. With that comment, we retreated to our rooms, ready to sleep away the day. When I woke up, I had to finish describing what had happened to me, I don't want to forget any of this. But I hear the Doctor down in the main control room of the TARDIS and I wouldn't be surprised if he's already got the coordinates set for somewhere new. I'd better go down and see what in the universe is going to be happening to me next….


	7. Windy Moors Part I

It's New Years Eve at home. It's hard to say what I would be doing if I wasn't, you know, in nineteenth century England. Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself again! Let me go back to yesterday night.

"So where are we going next?" I asked the Doctor as I came down the TARDIS stairs.

"Oh, you know, I like to keep things even, wouldn't want one period of time to feel left out, I thought we'd pop into the past this time. Have any preferences?" he grinned at me as I joined him at the control deck.

"Gosh…" I said, momentarily stunned by the possibilities. "Well… I don't know, when's your favorite time to visit."

"I like them all," he replied, then paused, looking thoughtful. "Well, except for 1974. That had to be the worst year in history for music. Come on, isn't there anything in history you want to see? Anyone you want to meet?"

"Of course there is, it's just kind of overwhelming. Alright… well, this is going to sound silly but there's one group of people I've just been dying to meet, but not when they're adults and famous – when they're kids."

"Ooh, that's dangerous… kids are impressionable, they remember things and don't always remember them properly. If you want to visit a young Nero he might not be fiddling as Rome burns but signaling alien spaceships. Which would be awkward. Plus it doesn't sound nearly as catchy and callous."

"No, no one like that," I said, laughing. "And maybe it's not that good of an idea…"

"Oh go on, who is it then?"

"Well… I've spent a lot of time studying the Brontes; you know Charlotte Bronte wrote _Jane Eyre_, Emily Bronte wrote _Wuthering Heights_, and their siblings Anne and Branwell were really creative too… but everyone says they got their start with it all when they were kids, how they would play in their garden and make up these absolutely amazing stories that just went on for hundreds of pages. I always envisioned them as just these four kids with really great imaginations, just coming up with new stories all the time. The kind of kids," I paused, feeling self conscious but then continued. "The kind of kids that I'd get along with really well."

"Ah, the Brontes? That's brilliant! And don't worry, you're right. With the imaginary world those kids live in, I could land the TARDIS in their living room and they wouldn't bat an eye."

"Have you met them before?"

"I think I ran into Charlotte once at a cocktail party in London with Thackeray but I wasn't sure. She was awfully quiet. Hid in a corner until Elizabeth Gaskell dragged her out and made her recite poetry," explained the Doctor. I wonder what my friends would be making me do at a New Years Eve party right at this moment. I'm just about positive it wouldn't involve reading poetry.

"Alright," continued the Doctor, beginning to do his odd routine of switch-flicking and button-pressing. "Let's hit, say… 1830? They'll all be in their early teen, hmm, Anne might be a little young, but that's alright. Yes, 1830. Noelle hit that button on your right – NOT THAT ONE – heh, yes, that's the one. Alright, here we go!"

The TARDIS began to shake and rattle, throwing the Doctor and me to the floor but he didn't look worried so I started to enjoy the roller coaster-like ride. All of a sudden there was a significant jolt, as if we'd hit something, and instantly the ride smoothed out. My stomach turned slightly as if we were falling quickly and the Doctor's eyes widened in surprise.

"Brace yourself, we're coming in for a bit of a rough landing!" he said, grabbing onto the base of the TARDIS control deck. I mimicked him and not a moment too soon as with a shattering crash we slammed into the ground. There was a painful moment where my body realized that it had suddenly gone from a very high speed to a standstill. I waited for a bit to make sure we had fully stopped and then gingerly stretched out, testing for any serious injury.

"Alright there?" the Doctor asked, looking unphased by the crash. He jumped up to start checking the controls of the ship.

"What was that? Is that normal?" I said by way of a response, deciding I hadn't suffered anything worse than a few bruises that would be shortly turning a glorious shade of purple.

"No. That was not normal at all. Well, it doesn't happen very often," he said, now reading from a list of coordinates that had appeared on the screen.

"Well, what happened? Are we in the right place and time anyway?"

"As far as I can tell we're in the right place and time, or pretty close," he said, distracted by the numbers. Then he turned to me to explain, "think of traveling through the space-time vortex as running through a giant slinky. It's a straight shot from one end to the other, but if someone on the outside kicks the slinky, all the rings slide apart and you fall through."

"And you're saying someone kicked the slinky?" I asked, trying to keep up with the metaphor.

"Right, but I just don't understand where all this energy is coming from!" he said in frustration. "First the Daleks, now this…." He turned to me and said as an aside, "it's like a super reinforced concrete slinky. Someone had steel-toed shoes."

"Um, which means it takes a lot of energy to jostle the space-time vortex and that's what happened, causing us to fall out of it?" I clarified. The Doctor nodded.

"There are just _obscene_ amounts of energy floating around right now, I've never heard of anything like it."

"Are you sure it's not the same power source that the Daleks were using to keep transporting between dimensions?" I asked.

"No, it very well could be. That doesn't solve the problem that it shouldn't exist at all. Alright Noelle, let's see where we ended up."

We stepped out of the TARDIS. I was still moving gingerly after the crash and a little unsure about where we might be. I had wanted to meet some of my favorite authors as children but I wasn't sure I was ready for another crazy adventure. Of course, given it was the Doctor, I suppose I didn't have much choice, did I?

The immediate surroundings of the TARDIS looked innocuous enough. We were standing in an open field surrounded by a well-trimmed hedge. A small gate at the other side of the field led to a dirt road. In the distance I thought I could see smoke rising from the chimneys of a small town. An abandoned horse-drawn plow stood alone in the field, an interesting contrast to the TARDIS itself. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like England in the early nineteenth century, or at least, what I imagined England in the early nineteenth century would look like. I noticed a sign of some sort on the road and so made my way over to see if I could figure out where we were. The midday sun did nothing to stop me from experiencing a shivering sensation that I think comes with time travel. Even if I didn't know when I was, my biological clock definitely thought something was up.

The Doctor fell into step next to me as we approached the sign and we both peered at it critically.

"Haworth, one mile," he read out loud.

"That's perfect! This is exactly where we want to be. Look, they've actually got windy moors!" I said, feeling rather giddy.

"Just don't go banging your head on trees wailing for Cathy," said the Doctor, starting down the road. I laughed and hurried to keep up.

It didn't take long to reach the town and it was a nice day for a walk. Around us, the everyday life of nineteenth century England felt like something out of a movie. I did note, rather self-consciously, that my clothing was completely ridiculous. I was still wearing my faded jeans and a fitted t-shirt under a tan jacket made of some synthetic material that wouldn't be invented for at least another century. The road was empty, as, I noticed once we arrived, were many of the streets in town.

"We should find the parsonage," I said, thinking back to the Bronte biographies I had read.

"Hm, rather quite today. Must be a holiday of some sort?" the Doctor commented. There was no one around of whom to ask directions so we entered some sort of shop where a young man was standing behind a counter, slicing something that looked as if it had very very recently been part of a live animal.

"Pardon me," said the Doctor. "Can you tell us the way to the parsonage, we're not from around these parts."

The young man chuckled and indicated the direction with his head.

"End of the road, up the hill and at the end of the lane. You're the fourth one to ask today," he replied through a heavy local accent.

"What d'you mean the fourth to ask today? What's happening at the parsonage?" I demanded. He stared at my clothes, noticing them for the first time.

"You're really not living around here are you? And it's the funeral for the curate's son isn't it? Branwell. Some of his old school friends come up, and his city friends I suppose, what you doing here if yer not here for the funeral?"

"Oh we're here for the funeral," said the Doctor quickly. "This one's touched in the head," he gestured at me. I rolled my eyes. "Thinks she's from the future. Nonsense!" He seemed to be enjoying himself but the shop boy just stared rather dumbly and responded, "Pork cuts are good today."

There was an awkward moment of silence. I'm pretty sure awkward pauses in conversations stay the same no matter what time and place in the universe you go. Or maybe it's just me.

"Well, must be off then to pay our respects," said the Doctor cheerily, waving as he steered me out of the shop. Once we were outside, I rounded on him, upset.

"We're off by almost twenty years. Branwell was the only boy in the family, within two years, Emily and Anne will be dead as well. Not exactly the best time to see the family." I thought for a moment then added bitterly, "he died of tuberculosis, a process seriously sped up by his alcohol and drug addictions after he was fired from his position as a tutor with a wealthy family where he was infatuated with, and having an affair with, the wife of the man who hired him."

"Well to be fair, that is probably reasonable grounds to fire the staff," pointed out the Doctor as we rounded the lane and the parsonage appeared before us. This time I felt even more awkward in my inappropriate attire. A medium sized crowd of people stood watching as the curate spoke a sermon over the body of his son. The women were in long, heavy black dresses and the men in dark suits. Standing next to their father were two young women, staring in shock at the casket before them. I wondered where the third sister was.

"Let's wait over here," I said, indicating a small garden around the side of the parsonage. The Doctor nodded.

"Bugger. That didn't turn out quite right at all. The girls are here, perhaps we hang around a few days and you can say hello. It all kind of goes downhill from here for them, doesn't it?" said the Doctor, sounding sorry.

"I beg your pardon!" came an angry voice from behind a large rose bush. With a start, the Doctor and I leapt back as a tear-stained woman rose from the hidden bench and turned to face us. Despite the fact that there had been no official portraits done of the famous author, and there was no photographic record of her life, from the simple sketches I had seen and something about her manor, there was no doubt in my mind that Charlotte Bronte stood before me. For a full minute we all stared at each other, taking in the scene.

"Er… sorry," started the Doctor. "Downhill can be taken in many different ways…"

"Who are you? You are strangers to me, to this place, yet there is something familiar about you," Charlotte said. I answered before the Doctor could confuse the distressed author any further.

"This is Doctor John Smith and I am Noelle Kelley," I explained. At this, there was a brief look of understanding in Charlotte's eyes.

"Ah, you're French." I didn't push the issue. "But you," Charlotte continued, staring at the Doctor. "You're not French. But you're not English either. I don't know what you are. You're like my creations from Angria, neither real nor unreal." At the mention of Angria, the fictional world she had created with her brother and sisters, her eyes filled with tears again. "A doctor?" she continued, sounding angry. "All the doctors in London couldn't save Branwell. Not that they didn't try. I have no faith in doctors."

"Well, I'm sort of a specialist," said the Doctor. "But tuberculosis, or… are they calling it phthisis now Noelle? Anyway, it's a nasty one – I'd love to get my hands on the alien that introduced that. Nasty but easy for even a country doctor to recognize the symptoms. Weeks of coughing, blood coming up from the lungs, chest pain… this is really rude, isn't it?" I nodded emphatically but Charlotte just looked confused.

"Branwell experienced none of those symptoms," she said quickly.

"TB can manifest outside the lungs sometimes," I added. "It's perfectly reasonable that his only symptoms were sore joints, swollen glands and stiffness of the back and neck."

"Are you a doctor as well? The French are quite different," exclaimed Charlotte. "But Branwell was limber until the end, no swelling, no pain. Oh Branwell. When the doctors told him he had not long to live and he must take to his bed, he leaned upright, against the fireplace, until he died standing there. Simply to prove that he could."

"That's really weird," I said without thinking.

"Not as weird as a tuberculosis patient without any TB symptoms," said the Doctor. "So how was he sick?"

"He was fatigued, had a deadly pallor, had lost nearly two stones in a fortnight and had the worst night terrors. He would awake with uncontrollable shaking and sweats."

"Well that could have been anything!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Who told you that was TB, maybe he just had some bad pork, I wouldn't put it past that numbskull down there…"

I coughed and said under my breath, "alcohol and drug addictions" which shut the Doctor up right away. Who knew what sort of substances Branwell had been abusing and there was no reason to upset Charlotte further.

"There was one other thing…" Charlotte started. "It would come and go, the doctors never believed my sisters and me."

"What was it?" I asked.

"Sometimes, Branwell would experience fits of melancholy, desolate unhappiness. My sisters and I would do everything we could to rouse him but nothing would be done. The moods would pass but we noticed that when he fell into that pit of mental despair, his eyes… they would turn entirely black."

There was a pause and the Doctor and I stared at each other in shock. I certainly had never heard of such a symptom before but, from the look the Doctor gave me, I could tell he had.

"When, exactly, did this start," he said quickly, grabbing Charlotte's hand. "I need you to tell me everything."

"I've already explained it to the other doctors. There's nothing to be done, Branwell is gone."

"Charlotte, I believe it is vitally important that you tell me exactly what happened to Branwell." Something in the Doctor's tone caught both my and Charlotte's attention and with a final, choking sob, Charlotte took a deep breath and proceeded to tell us her brother's tale.

"Branwell was never quite like the rest of us. When we would go to Angria, that is, we would write and act our stories, it gripped him with a stronger passion that it did my sisters and me. With words and ink, he would paint worlds we couldn't even imagine. It was so hard for him to leave – he hadn't gone away to school as we did as girls, father tutored him at home. When he finally left to train as a portrait painter, he sunk into a depression. He would write letters home as if he were writing to Angria, would speak of his life as devoid of creativity and of passion. He was expelled from his first few jobs for incompetence, brought on by depression. We couldn't bear to watch him suffer and Anne, my youngest sister, suggested that he take a job with the family she was living with. She was the governess to the daughters of the gentleman of the house and Branwell was accepted to tutor the son. The gentleman, Robinson, had recently lost his wife and had married another woman, Lydia.

"Anne returned home but Branwell stayed behind, his letters home from that time were filled with joy. I had never heard him speak such and never did again. He spoke of beautiful images in his head and heart and of Lydia Robinson, the wife of his employer. He said such strange things, that he had a fire in his head and she was a cool stream of water; that she drew colors from his mind until he was clean and white…. It's hard for me to remember for he entered my private chambers shortly after he returned and burned the letters he had sent me regarding Lydia.

"He returned home later that year but would not explain why, simply that he could not go back. That was when the first fits began. Of course the rumors spoke of an affair, an infatuation with Lydia. He began to drink heavily, and took up with a group of men from the city who spoke of strange beings and impossible stories, not like the beautiful worlds Branwell would create with his sisters in our youth. When he finally returned home for the last time, his melancholy would last for hours, and come with painful regularity. He passed shortly after, his thoughts finally quiet and the final melancholy at last passed."

She took another breath and crossed herself, tears once again streaming down her cheeks. I took a moment to study the authoress. She was not beautiful, but I could see something in her eyes and her brow of the genius that lay behind her novels. Her dark brown hair was pulled back loosely and her high collared black dress was rumpled and ill-kept.

"How long had Lydia and Mr. Robinson been married when Branwell arrived?" asked the Doctor. "And what did Mr. Robinson do?"

Charlotte, understandably, looked surprised by the question.

"They were newly married, only a few months had passed since they took their vows. And he was a gentleman, a land owner. But I think I remember Branwell was initially attracted to the position Anne suggested because Mr. Robinson was a painter and a poet, albeit a poor one, just like Branwell."

"I don't think Branwell died of tuberculosis," said the Doctor firmly. "And I think I need to go pay a visit to this Lydia Robinson."

"But Thorp Green is forty miles from here!" said Charlotte. "And what do you think killed my brother?"

"Doctor," I said quietly. "There's nothing we can do to save Branwell, shouldn't we let it drop?"

"Well, we could," said the Doctor. "But in doing so we might leave open the possibility that the populations of England and most of Europe are killed."

"What??" I asked loudly. A few of the funeral attendees who were walking past the garden following the sermon stared at me.

"Yes, I think it is vitally important that we visit Lydia Robinson. Charlotte, I think your bother had a very rare and deadly disease of the brain and I must visit his former employer to ensure that it doesn't spread through the country."

"I have never heard of such a disease," Charlotte said slowly.

"And hopefully you never will again. Now, just point us off in the direction of this Thorp Green and we'll be on our way," said the Doctor. Charlotte looked us over carefully once again and nodded as if having made up her mind.

"You will spend the night here in the parsonage and tomorrow I will accompany you to Throp Green."

"Ohh no no no no. Certainly not. Not a chance," said the Doctor quickly.

"Branwell was my brother and Lydia is the only person who ever made him truly happy. I am going with you," she said firmly.

There was a great deal of grumbling on the part of the Doctor, and a rather surprised discussion with the curate and Charlotte's sisters (who I awkwardly stared at in open admiration). An yet here I am, in a bedroom within shouting distance of rooms of Emily, Anne and Charlotte Bronte, awaiting the morning when I will travel to Thorp Green.

And who said literary geeks never had any fun?

---

Author's note: The Bronte's are some of my personal favorite authors and this and the following chapters might be a little exposition-heavy just so I don't lose anyone following along who's not as familiar with the author's backgrounds as myself. Charlotte Bronte is the author of Jane Eyre, The Professor, Shirley, and Villette. Her sister Emily Bronte is the author of Wuthering Heights and died shortly after Branwell in 1948. Anne Bronte, the youngest sister, is the author of Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and died after her sister Emily. Everything regarding Bronte history in this chapter is documented as true except for Branwell's symptoms of which there is no record. Please read and review, new chapters will be up soon!


	8. Windy Moors Part II

**January 2, 2008 - Morning**

Well, happy New Year yesterday. I think my resolution should be to pay more attention to things. If traveling with the Doctor has taught me anything, even in just a few days, it's that even the little thing I've learned, that I think I'll never use in my life (like, for example, basic human anatomy, or random trivia facts about the lives of the Brontes) just might be incredibly important. Another resolution, I think, would be to try not to worry so much about time travel paradoxes. They make my head hurt.

So much has happened in the last two days, there's no way I'm going to get it all down in just one journal entry. I'll see how far I can get….

When I woke up this morning, it took a minute to remember where I was. I still regret that the Doctor and I ended up overshooting our target arrival time by so much because I could tell that the Bronte sisters, even in their mournful state, were some of the cleverest people I'd ever met (baring the Doctor of course). Someone had lit the fire in my room sometime during the night and there was a long dress hanging on the arm chair that I assumed was meant for me. I was glad to discard my dirty clothes that were now in serious need of washing. The dress was green and almost-but-not-quite off the shoulder and had quarter-length sleeves that were slightly puffed out. It was rather tight fitting through the chest and waist but then opened into a full, ankle-length bell shape at the bottom. It took me a moment to struggle through the layers of fabric in the skirt that gave it its shape. The bottom of the skirt and the sleeves were trimmed with an off-white lace. I wondered which of the girls the dress had belonged to.

I glanced around looking for a mirror and found a small looking glass in the wardrobe. The girl staring back at me looked unfamiliar in the strange outfit. The dark green dress made me look even paler by comparison which, I guessed trying to think back to what I knew about 1840s fashions, was the point. I looked nervous so tried a smile which didn't look quite right at all. Of course that could have been because I've never seen a portrait of someone smiling in the nineteenth century. The stiffs.

Unsure of what to do with my hair, I pulled it back with the elastic around my wrist and then, staring at myself critically for a moment, pulled a strand loose and curled it around my finger, letting it hang down the side of my face. I turned back and forth, taking in the new look for a moment before collapsing into laughter. It really was too much. That was how the Doctor found me, staring in the mirror, laughing at myself.

"You look…" started the Doctor but I broke out in another fit of laughing.

"Ridiculous!" I finished.

"I was going to say nice but we can go with your version if you'd like. Come on, they're waiting for us downstairs." I was momentarily stunned by the compliment and had to glance back in the mirror to reevaluate the dress.

"Noelle?" he prompted, indicating the open door.

"Oh, right. Let's go," I said quickly, blushing and walking quickly past him down the stairs.

In the kitchen, Emily and Anne were waiting for us. Through the window, I could see Charlotte and her father overseeing the preparation of the coach for our journey. I sat down in front of a steaming bowl of some sort of off-white mush and tried to eat some to be polite.

"Noelle, Doctor Smith," Anne said quietly, addressing us directly for the first time. "I know not what providence delivered you to Charlotte but I have not seen her so taken with an activity since before Branwell took ill. Perhaps your travels are futile, I do not know what is to become of our family now that we have lost so much, but to see my sister determined again is more than I could have wished at such a sad time."

I tried to formulate a proper response, something that would mirror Anne's gravity and the somber situation but all that came out was, "I just really wanted to say that I think you two and Charlotte are some of the best writers ever. I mean, I've read all your books so many times – I love Heathcliff and _Tenant of __Wildfell__ Hall_ is just amazing. You're so advanced for your time and I have wanted to meet you all of my life!" I certainly wasn't pale in the dress now, my face was bright red – I had always promised myself I wouldn't be a ridiculous, fawning fan in the presence of anyone famous. Anne and Emily looked at each other, surprised.

"You cannot know that the names Acton and Ellis Bell refer to my sister and me," Emily said in shock and I mentally kicked myself – they were still publishing under fake names. Emily, who I remembered from my reading had been the most reluctant to come public with her true identity, looked shocked and not a little upset.

"Oh, shoot, I'm sorry," I said quickly, slipping into modern colloquialisms. "I promise, no one else knows. It's just me. And the Doctor. But no one else." Emily looked slightly appeased but Anne was smiling.

"You enjoyed _Tenant_?" she asked, sounding pleased.

"Oh my god, yes!" I cried and winced as the girls, looking shocked, crossed themselves. "I mean, it was brilliant! Both of you. You're writing is so unique and clever and so advanced…."

"The carriage is ready," said Charlotte, entering the kitchen and lifting a basket of food for the journey. Thankful that I was saved from making any more mistakes, I nodded goodbye to Emily and Anne who were looking bemused. The Doctor and I made our way to the door but I glanced back to see Charlotte and her sisters in a warm embrace.

"I do not know what I may find, or if there is anything to find," Charlotte said softly. "I only know that I feel I must go with these strangers to be fully at peace with the memory of our dear brother. I will return shortly my sisters."

The ride was uneventful, if uncomfortable. I suddenly realized what a difference having paved roads made; through the bouncing carriage, I could feel every pothole and mound in the road jostling my body which was still sore from our crash landing the day before. Charlotte seemed entirely absorbed with her reading although I don't think my stomach could have managed it on such a nauseating journey. The Doctor seemed to be napping for most of the ride so I stared out the window at the passing scenery. It certainly wasn't like the movies, there was no desperate galloping and wildly swinging carriage movements and we couldn't have been traveling faster than four or five miles an hour. All in all, it was already dark when we arrived at Thorp Green.

"Of course I didn't have time to post ahead that we were arriving," said Charlotte. "So I cannot be sure of the welcome we will receive. I know not how Branwell left the family, perhaps we should consider returning to the inn in the nearest town."

"Nonsense!" said the Doctor. "This place certainly looks big enough for three more guests. Nothing for it, let's go invite ourselves in."

The front door was answered quickly by a young woman wearing a simple frock and bonnet.

"Can I help you sir? Misses?" she asked through a heavy brogue. "The master and mistress have just attended to supper and have retired for the night."

"Who's there Grace?" came a loud and boisterous voice from elsewhere in the house.

"Hullo!" called the Doctor, shouting back. "Am I right in thinking I am addressing Mr. Robinson of Thorp Green?"

"Ay, that you are," came the answer.

"Any chance you could carry on this conversation, I don't know, _in the same room_?" I asked, annoyed as the Doctor had been practically shouting in my ear.

"This is Doctor John Smith and this is Miss Noelle Kelley. I am Charlotte Bronte," Charlotte began to explain to the maid.

"Ooh, Branwell's sister, he talks about you all the time," said Grace with a smile. "Always speaking of his sisters, he was. We miss Branwell here at the Green, hasn't he come with you to visit?"

Charlotte looked momentarily stunned. "He wasn't let go, then?" she asked. "And you haven't heard the news?"

"Let go? What a thought, ma'am. Branwell was well loved by all of us, in particular Master Peter, his student. And what news is that?"

"Branwell is dead," Charlotte said bluntly and I could tell she was thrown off balance by the reception we had received. Certainly she, as I, expected an angry household, indifferent to Branwell's passing. Certainly not the stunned gasp of Grace and the sudden appearance of a large, round man with very red cheeks who appeared in the hall, looking horror-struck.

"Branwell? Dead?" Mr. Robinson said. "What happened to the poor lad?"

"Well, this and that, you know how it goes. Poor sanitation, poor nutrition, all that bouncing about in carriages," said the Doctor, cutting in. "I'm the Doctor, Mr. Robinson, and we've been traveling all day to bring you the news. I don't suppose you have a place we could stay for the night?"

"Blimey for the sister of Branwell and her companions, of course we do! I hope Branwell didn't give you the impression we were anything but hospitable!"

"No," said Charlotte faintly. "He spoke very highly of you and your family."

"I'll get the missus to check on the kitchen maids to see if they can't find you some supper. Come on, I'll send someone out to see to the carriage. Branwell dead? Well! I never. Whatever will I tell the children? Lydia? Lydia!!"

His wife appeared at the top of the stairs behind him and stared down at us. She was a beautiful woman, thin, tall and willowy, exactly the kind of super-model look I envied in my own time. Her dress was a deep shade of red, trimmed with black, and she had pitch black hair that fell in thick curls down her back. Even from my place at the bottom of the stairs I could see that her eyes were dark as well.

"Yes?" she asked curtly.

"This is Charlotte Bronte, Branwell's sister. She's brought terrible news, Branwell has passed away!"

"I know," said Lydia simply.

"You… how d'you… I say, did you receive some correspondence?" Mr. Robinson spluttered.

"I heard it in town, it was mentioned at the post office," she said, not looking at her husband.

"Well! And didn't think to mention it to the rest of the family! Our guests are tired and have come all this way to see us. Perhaps you can find something for them to eat. Grace, please prepare rooms for our guests. Well! Branwell, dead!" Mr. Robinson wandered off, still muttering to himself and Grace gestured that we follow her.

"You mustn't expect anything but simple lodgings here. But I'll prepare your rooms while you eat something. Will you all be requiring separate rooms?"

"Yes," said the Doctor, Charlotte and I simultaneously and Grace raised an eyebrow but wandered off without a word.

"I don't understand," said Charlotte, sitting heavily in one of the kitchen chairs. "Why would Brandwell leave this place? He was happy and they were happy with him."

"I don't know about that Lydia," I said after checking to make sure we were really alone in the kitchen. "She didn't seem surprised at all to hear about Branwell and she certainly wasn't as forthcoming as her husband. Plus she just looked… off." I was starting to feel a little grumpy with the whole situation. I had wanted to see the Brontes, not travel all over England chasing down some dead guy's ex-flame.

"How dare you speak such of Branwell's closest friend?" said Charlotte, her voice rising. The Doctor looked between us in interest. "And, I was not going to mention, but I thought the French were supposed to fashionable."

"What's the point of fashion when you're too stupid to see what's right in front of you? Obviously Branwell didn't have tuberculosis, you were just blind."

"Better to be without logic than without passion," Charlotte said angrily. "Your cold demeanor and uncaring medical reports… you never knew Branwell."

"What's the point," I sighed, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion and depression. "There's nothing here anyway."

"Nothing here in this house or on God's earth," agreed Charlotte, a tear sliding down her cheek. Through the haze of melancholy that had overtake my brain I noticed in a somewhat unattached way that Charlotte's eyes had turned completely black.

"Well," said the Doctor. I was barely listening and had buried my head in my arms. "This is interesting."

At that moment Mr. Robinson entered the kitchen to find Charlotte and I completely desolate, tears running down our faces, with the Doctor staring critically at us both.

"God lord, man! What ever have you done to these poor women?"

"Oh you know women," said the Doctor in a long-suffering voice. "Weep at the sight of me." Mr. Robinson stared in shock at the ridiculous comment and the Doctor looked sheepish. "Er… that was uncalled for," he added quickly.

"Of course Branwell's passing has greatly affected everyone who knew him. Perhaps these young ladies should retire to their chambers immediate," said Mr. Robinson. Even in my altered state I could tell that he was made distinctly uncomfortable by girls crying. Men are the same everywhere.

"Right-o, come on ladies, off we go," said the Doctor, placing a firm hand on each of our shoulders and steering us out of the kitchen.

"One moment," called Mr. Robinson, his voice sounding a bit off. "I say, what's wrong with their eyes?"

"Oh nothing, nothing," said the Doctor quickly. "Anti-depressants… er, not invented yet… reviving tonics prescribed by the alchemist."

"But I've seen that before! That's what the housemaid did right before she…."

"What happened to her?" the Doctor asked. He was still holding the sobbing Charlotte and me.

"Well she went mad and perished. Messy business," said Mr. Robinson. "I really must go see our local alchemist then, perhaps he might have had something to do with it. She was quite a good housemaid."

"Right, you do that," said the Doctor with a rising sense of urgency. "'Night then, we're off."

Half-guiding and half-carrying Charlotte and I up the stairs, the Doctor moved quickly, laying Charlotte first in the bed of one of the rooms Grace had prepared for us, and the taking me to the next one. I stared around dejectedly, only half aware of what was going on. Through one of the half-closed doors, I saw Lydia staring at me, her face a mask of sadness and anger – it started me off again in a fresh round of tears.

"Alright, Noelle," said the Doctor gently, setting me down in an arm chair. "Let's snap out of this. For one thing you're getting my jacket all tear-stained." He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and shone it directly into my eyes. For some reason the light didn't bother me quite as much as I had expected it would.

"Oy, this is problematic," said the Doctor. "Well, for now we're just going to have to wait for it to pass. Don't worry, Noelle, it will pass." I sighed and lay motionless in the chair, feeling no desire to move.

I arose from my depressed stupor what must have been hours later. Night had fallen entirely and I found myself, damp from tears and sore from the uncomfortable armchair, sitting in a plain bedroom overlooking the gardens of Thorp Green. Carefully I stood and crept out into the hallway. The candles had been extinguished but at the end of the hall, a bright light shone under the door. I knocked and the Doctor quickly let me in.

"What on earth was that?" I asked. "I've never felt like that before in my life."

"Not earth," said the Doctor. "And _that_ was Branwell's melancholy. There is something here in this house that is messing up human brain patterns, something that is telepathically making you absolutely miserable."

"You've got that right," I said with a sniff. The after effects of the melancholy were still coursing through my body and I had to keep reminding myself that I didn't actually have any real reason to be so upset. The Doctor pulled me into a warm hug and held me for a moment. I felt quite a bit better and said so.

"Good! Because we have work to do," he said, sounding excited. "Now we need to figure out what we're dealing with."

"You think there is an alien in this house? Well there's nothing here that _looks _like an alien!" I said in surprise. The Doctor gave me a pointed look.

"Oh…" I started, remembering what, in fact, the Doctor was. "Well, to be fair, you don't look like an alien."

"What's an alien _supposed_ to look like then?" he asked. "Anyway, yes, there is definitely something non-human in this house that's playing around with people's brains."

"My money's on Lydia. There's definitely something up with her – have you had a chance to check her out yet?" I said.

"Oh, it's definitely Lydia, but I have no idea what sort of race she might be. There are hundreds of thousands of telepathic beings out there in the universe, some of them nastier than others." The Doctor was staring out the window, lost in thought and I fidgeted nervously, wondering what sort of danger we had gotten into this time. I felt something cold against my ear and half turned saying, "God, these old houses are so drafty…" when I realized what exactly that cold something was.

"Doctor…" I said slowly, willing myself not to panic.

"What is it Noelle?" he asked, still staring outside.

"I think Lydia might be one of the nastier ones."

He turned in surprise and saw me standing stock still in front of Lydia Robinson who had a pistol held against my head.

--

AN: Hope you're enjoying this so far, for this mystery you really don't need to know too much about the Brontes and we'll be getting out of literary geekdom once Noelle and the Doctor escape this particular problem… well, if they escape ;-). Please read and review!


	9. Windy Moors Part III

**Evening**

"It would be really, really nice not to die a hundred and forty years before I was born," I said looking at the Doctor despairingly.

"Lydia, let her go," the Doctor said nervously. I didn't like it that the Doctor sounded nervous. It made me nervous. –er. "Noelle has nothing to do with this, you can put the gun down. I can help you."

"Ha," she said, speaking for the first time. Her voice was light and soft and sounded… for lack of a better word… colorful. "How do you think you can help me? Do you think I am some kind of scientific experiment for you? _Doctor_. As if I didn't know what that meant. You heard some rumor and came to hunt me down and see for yourself. Well I don't know what Branwell told you but I won't have it, I won't let you take me away!"

"Now there is a very important and logical reason why you should listen to what I am about to tell you, and why you should put the gun down. I'm going to come over there, take Noelle to _this _side of the room…"

"Don't you move!" cried Lydia, swinging the gun around toward the Doctor. I took the opportunity to slide away from her towards the wall.

"Aw, come on then! How unsatisfying would it be to shoot a completely unarmed traveling Doctor and his even less armed traveling companion?" he said.

"Am I your companion, then?" I asked, absurdly happy despite the rather life-threatening situation at hand.

"Well, I suppose you've technically saved us twice so I think that entitles you to a title. Can we discuss this later?" Lydia was looking murderous.

"And what would a traveling doctor want with Thorp Green. It was just by chance then that you arrive? Admit it, you've been seeking me and I am telling you now, I refuse to come with you!"

"Yes," admitted the Doctor immediately. "I did come looking for you. Well, not you in particular, whatever it was that was causing the strange telepathic disturbances that resulted in Branwell's death and, from the sounds of it, some other problems closer to home. But tell me, how did a Cesturi get so far across the galaxy? I can't imagine this is a very healthy environment for you."

Lydia stared at him in shock, the pistol still suspended in midair. The Doctor stepped forward and gently removed it from her hand which fell limply to her side.

"You know my true species… how is this possible?"

"I wasn't sure at first, there are a lot of telepathic beings out there. I'd narrowed it down, of course, given the symptoms and the fact it was Branwell Bronte, of all people, who you attached yourself to. But it wasn't until I saw you now that I knew for sure. Not many species could pass themselves off as human on earth without any physical modifications."

"Yes, this is my true form," Lydia said, still in shock. "But… I thought Branwell had told… I thought you were going to kill me, cut me apart and study me."

"Not at all, that sounds terribly messy. It's the eyes that give it away," said the Doctor as if explain how he had found her during a particularly long game of hide and go seek. I felt left out of the discussion.

"So Lydia is an alien?" I asked, trying to catch up.

"Does it feel odd to be the only human in the room?" the Doctor grinned. "Lydia is a Cesturi. They are generally regarded as the most creative and artistic species in this galaxy and their poetry, writings, paintings and music are famous. Humanoid in appearance, but completely different in their mental patterns. They absolutely require creative companionship and when they are producing their art, they also produce telepathic waves that nourish and encourage their fellow Cesturians. They live in enormous communities, all very close together. When a Cesturi is alone, it begins to fade, it can't exercise its creative genius, loses the nourishment of its peers, and begins to produce the equivalent of mental waste products – it releases despair and depression telepathically instead. Without access to a symbiotic creative relationship, it will soon die. That final peak of despair, felt the moment before they die alone… they release one final wave of anguish. It can be enough to kill anyone nearby. Death by despair and lack of creativity." I looked again at Lydia again and could almost see the waves of sadness radiating off of her.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," said Lydia. "I never meant this to happen."

"Like I said, I'm the Doctor. And you are clearly sick. I can help you. Start at the beginning," he prompted and leapt into an armchair, settling himself down for what he clearly anticipated would be a long tale.

"I left home when I was young," Lydia started with a sigh. "My sisters and brothers and I wanted to see the universe. Just because the Cesturians require shared creativity from others of our species does not mean we all are close companions and just like any young group of people from any planet, we felt stifled by our elders. We thought… we _knew_ that there were more modern and youthful artists elsewhere in the galaxy. We arrived on earth nearly ten years ago and there was such beauty here! We thought we would never tire of the architecture, the painting, the poetry. It was like nothing we had seen before. But soon, we realized that unlike the Cesturians, not every human was an artist. Without the constant creative brainwaves feeding us, we began to grow tired and sick."

"Wait, so you can absorb telepath waves from humans?" I interrupted, confused.

"Of course, nearly every sentient species is at least mildly telepathic although most species haven't evolved means of understanding those telepathic waves. Cesturi would have been able to latch on to human creative waves but only reciprocal Cesturi brain waves, and not other human's, would have been strong enough to affect humans in return," explained the Doctor quickly. "Go on Lydia."

"One by one, my brothers and sisters passed away, running as far as possible from human settlements to save them from the Cesturian final, deadly thoughts. When there were only two of us left, we decided that perhaps it would be better if we separated, instead of trying to survive together on the meager creativity of a single city.

"Ryitha went south, and I know not what has become of her. I came north, I had heard of a great artistic community near London and hoped I might find some means of survival. I was dying when I met Mr. Robinson. I suppose I am attractive to these humans as I nearly share their form…." She gave a modest shrug and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. There was no way she didn't know how beautiful she was. All the same, listening to her soliloquy was like watching a play or movie and she seemed almost like a Hollywood actress of the golden Hollywood years.

"Mr. Robinson was a poor poet and painter, but I hadn't the time or energy to find someone else with any greater artistic nature," she continued. "His wife had passed away leaving him with three young girls and a son and we married soon after meeting. I did not believe I would survive much longer, but to my surprise, my spirits seemed to revive the moment I entered his home. It was the governess of his daughters – Miss Anne. I could sense it immediately; the absolute joy of finally being near someone who was a creative _genius_ was overwhelming and addicting.

"But she was called home shortly after my arrival – her health had never been strong – and when she left I fell to pieces. To be so close to someone who could save me, only to have it taken away was maddening but then…."

She trailed off wistfully with a sigh that made my heart clench in my chest.

"Ahh," said the Doctor softly. "Then Branwell arrived. And it was everything you could ever have wanted. It was _better_ than Anne because Anne had her sisters and her correspondences and Branwell was alone. Of course he spoke of his sister too but he was _different_ and he needed you just as much as you needed him. Oh Lydia."

"It was better than I could have imagined," she cried and then added demurely, "and I can imagine a lot of things. We would paint together, paint worlds that had never been seen, speak the poetry of planets that had never been born, create whole universes. Of course Branwell did not realize… he simply knew that I encourage his writing and painting, and knew that he was more skilled when he created these in my presence. In return, I gave him joy and happiness he had never known. His head was full of impossible things and I drew them out, feeding myself and giving him relief that he needed to live on this planet."

"So what went wrong? Why would he ever leave that?" I asked.

"You couldn't bear to lie to him," said the Doctor shrewdly. "You thought he could accept the impossible because he could create it. Isn't that right, Lydia?"

"I confessed to him I was not human. At first he would not… could not believe me. He thought it was another story. But I insisted, told him of places beyond this world and… I made him look at my eyes, my eyes that can give away the secret art of the stars, the poetry of the planets. He was gone the next morning."

She paused to wipe her eyes and I realized that I had tears streaming down my cheek once again. Her emotions were getting out of control and I could feel myself teetering on the edge of a paralyzing depression that wasn't my own.

"I could still feel him in my head," Lydia sobbed. "We were connected, he and I, and I felt him drifting into madness and despair. I tried to reach out to him but he blocked me, abused substances that turned his beautiful thoughts into ugly, incomprehensible ones. I was alone again and this time I knew it would destroy me. I'm dying Doctor. No one can save me, not now that Branwell is gone and even if they could, I have no reason to live!"

Something very odd was happening in my brain. If I thought about it in a very removed way, it was as if a black curtain was falling heavily behind my eyes and suddenly I saw the world as Lydia saw it. Every piece of furniture, every wall, every door, even the tiny cobwebs and specks of dust appeared as a blank canvas. But more than that, they were painfully blank, a canvas that screamed and cried and begged to be filled but never would be. I shut my eyes but the screams continued. I felt the stars laughing at this pitiful planet that had such potential for beauty but squandered and ignored it. I felt colors; lonely, lost, underused colors dancing around in the night, desiring to be brought together. But most of all, I heard words. I heard every word ever invented being whispered just inside my ear, a constant stream of gibberish that hinted at lost genius. It was excruciating.

I must have fallen to the floor for there was still some small part of my brain that remained human, free from the Cesturian influence Lydia had cast, that realized I was on the ground, holding my head in my hands. In a moment, the Doctor was beside me with the sonic screwdriver.

"Noelle! Noelle!!" he was calling but I couldn't answer; words had lost all meaning.

"Lydia, you have to stop this," he shouted. In the distance I could hear screams and sobs of other members of the Thorp Green household. Lydia, it seemed, was dying and whether she meant to or not, she was taking the humans with her. "Lydia, you have to hold on, you have to believe there is more art in the universe, just let me bring it to you!" The Doctor was sounding more frantic than I had heard him before but suddenly he stopped stock still and muttered to himself, "but I did bring it to you."

"Noelle, I'm _not_ going to let you die," he said, crouching next to me. "In fact," he continued, standing up and raising his voice again. "That goes for the whole house. All of England. I. Am not. Going. To let you. Die." With that encouraging statement, he rushed out of the room.

I fell deeper into blackness and welcomed it. The pain of everything that assaulted my senses was too much, it was too empty in the world and I was ready for oblivion.

I was on the very edge of consciousness when the Doctor reappeared carrying Charlotte. He threw her unceremoniously into the chair he had been seated in only minutes before and placed his hands on her temples.

"Charlotte," he shouted. "Charlotte I know you're in there, you can stop this!" He paused as if waiting for a response but Charlotte simply drooped in the chair. Her eyes were completely black and the roots of her hair were beginning to darken as well.

"Well that's no excuse, you're the poetic genius here," the Doctor said, annoyed, as if he had gotten some response after all. Another pause.

"That's not going to be nearly as effective," he said. I was almost gone. I summoned my last remaining strength and tried to open my mouth to expel one of the painful words, any word, from my mind.

"Doc…tor…" I croaked and he didn't let go of Charlotte's head but looked at me with eyes that told me, somehow, everything was going to be alright. I closed my eyes.

"Alright Charlotte," he said quickly. "Listen up Lydia! Secondhand poetry is never as good, so pay attention!" His voice grew stronger and somehow I imagined that even over the screams and crying of the people of Thorp Green and the towns and villages beyond, his words could be heard all over England.

"Life believe, is not a dream," he began and suddenly the words in my head began to quiet."So dark as sages say;  
Oft a little morning rain  
Foretells a pleasant day.  
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,  
But these are transient all;  
If the shower will make the roses bloom,  
O why lament its fall?  
Rapidly, merrily,  
Life's sunny hours flit by,  
Gratefully, cheerily  
Enjoy them as they fly!  
What though Death at times steps in,  
And calls our Best away?  
What though sorrow seems to win,  
O'er hope, a heavy sway?  
Yet Hope again elastic springs,  
Unconquered, though she fell;  
Still buoyant are her golden wings,  
Still strong to bear us well.  
Manfully, fearlessly,  
The day of trial bear,  
For gloriously, victoriously,  
Can courage quell despair!"

Carefully, I opened my eyes and took a shuddering breath. The Doctor was instantly there, helping me to my feet and pulling me into a tight hug.

"Alright there?" he asked, sounding relieved.

"I think so," I answered shakily. "Where did that come from? That was beautiful!"

"That was Charlotte. It would have been stronger if she had been able to share it herself, I just channeled her words. But I think it did the trick, look!" He pointed at Lydia, whose eyes looked lighter and hair was a black-brown instead of the midnight black it had been before. She was breathing heavily.

"Did Charlotte just come up with that? Despite everything Lydia did?" I asked.

"Well, she is a genius. For a human," said the Doctor.

"That was some quick thinking, to get Charlotte's words to save us all," I said, impressed and more than a little grateful.

"Well, I'm a genius," the Doctor grinned. "For anything."

I laughed at him, then noticed Charlotte watching us with a strange smile on her face. I went over to her and pulled her into a huge embrace. She was surprised at first but returned the gesture.

"That was brilliant," I told her. "Your poem was beautiful, please make sure you write it down. Why are you smiling?"

"I think I've found what my latest novel is missing," she said evasively. I thought back to what I knew of her novels but nothing jumped out as being related to an alien nearly killing thousands of people.

"What are we going to do with Lydia?" I asked.

"You speak as if I am a thing to be dealt with. I could still destroy you if you dared to threaten me!" she interjected with a shaky voice.

"Lydia is a frightened, sick space traveler who needs a good dose of creative juices," said the Doctor. "And I think I have just the place."

"Please," she said in a small voice. "I can't bear to go home. Not after losing my family. I'd rather die alone, and I promise I will truly be alone, but I can not go back to Cesturi."

"Nonsense, who said anything about dying?" said the Doctor cheerfully. "Although we will all have to go back to Haworth. My space ship is still there," he said, winking at Charlotte who looked completely shocked.

Dawn was breaking over Thorp Green as we filed into the carriage to begin the long trip back to Haworth. Mr. Robinson sent down his regrets with Grace, who looked pale and tired, that he could not see us off, but he had had simply the worst night terrors and would not rise that day. I wondered what he would do when he realized his wife had gone too.

Charlotte was surprisingly receptive to the idea that Lydia was not human. We didn't mention the Doctor; it might have been a little much. Charlotte, in fact, seemed so at ease with the idea, I began to wonder if Branwell had said something to his sister about Lydia's true nature. What disturbed her the most was the loss of the relationship between her brother and his friend.

When we finally returned to Haworth, I found my original clothes cleaned and folded in the room I had stayed in the Bronte parsonage. I was rather reluctant to leave the dress behind but somehow it didn't feel right to take it with me. Anne and Emily spoke of nothing by the terrible nightmares they had had the night before and I wondered if it had anything to do with the deaths soon afterwards.

It was late by the time the Doctor and I set off for the TARDIS, Lydia accompanying us this time. The Doctor still refused to tell us where we were going. We had just reached the top of the hill overlooking the small town and I could see the TARDIS in the distance, sitting unassumingly in an open field, when I heard footsteps behind us. I turned and Charlotte was running towards us, holding something in her arms.

"Lydia," she said, catching her breath. "I do not know if I truly understand what Branwell meant to you, or your to him. But if it was anything like the bond he and I shared, then I pity you had so little time on this earth to share with him. Please, I would like you to have these. It's not much, but it is the nearest thing to Branwell's surviving soul."

Lydia accepted the proffered gifts, which appeared to be a pile of journals. I let out a low whistle.

"Are those…" I started but Charlotte anticipated my question.

"The Tales of Angria. The world that Branwell and I created as children. Every character, every world, every page in these stories is touched by Branwell. This should be enough to nourish you for a long time," she said with a smile. Then, impulsively, she kissed Lydia on the cheek. "Travel safely, my sister."

We continued on our way, stunned into silence by the gift. I guess I learned where the lost Tales of Angria had gone after all.

"This," said the Doctor cheerfully after another bumpy ride through time. "This is August 15, 1969." He had refused to tell Lydia where he was taking her and she was still looking nervous, clutching the Tales of Angria as if they were life preservers which, in fact, they may have been to her.

"No way!" I shouted, leaping up from the TARDIS floor which I was starting to get used to falling on. "You're _joking_!"

"What is this time? Where have you taken me?" demanded Lydia, but the color was already rising in her cheeks and her hair had turned almost auburn. Her eyes widened. She said in surprise, "I feel… I feel beauty!"

"That's more like it," said the Doctor with a grin.

"Come on!" I laughed, jumping excitedly. "Let's go!"

We stepped out of the TARDIS into a mob of people wearing crazy clothing, shouting, laughing, dancing and generally enjoying the Woodstock music festival.

"Now Lydia, I am quite sure you are going to find a wonderful group of new-age hippies to keep you happy for a very long time," said the Doctor in much the same tone as a father telling his daughter what to look out for on the first day of high school. "But if you are having any trouble at all, find a telephone… er… ask someone what a telephone is, _then_ find a telephone and call this number." He pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of one of his coat pockets and scribbled something down, handing it to Lydia. She already seemed to have forgotten us amidst the colors and music. The Doctor laughed happily.

"Do you want to stay?" he asked me.

"Well… to be entirely honest, this really isn't my kind of thing," I said, edging away from a group of people who clearly had not bathed in the two weeks it had taken to drive their VW van from San Francisco to New York.

"Oh good," said the Doctor, sounding relieved.

"Why's that good?" I laughed.

"Because I've been to Woodstock… ooh, six times now and the chances of running into myself are getting higher every time!"

Lydia was already lost in the crowd and the Doctor and I turned back to the TARDIS, both feeling rather pleased with ourselves. Suddenly it hit me.

"Oh my god!" I shouted, causing a young woman in what looked like a potato sack to turn to me and say angrily, "there is no god, only the great eternal voice." I rolled my eyes.

"What is it then?" asked the Doctor curiously.

"Doctor John Smith?" I continued, beginning to grin. "Doctor John Smith is a character in Charlotte's last published novel, _The Villette_."

"A TV show, a popular novel, I mean, there's even bound to be fanfiction about me…" said the Doctor, sounding pleased. "I really like this dimension."

"Good! Now just give me a minute because I'm going to think of somewhere really awesome we can go next," I said.

Well, it took me a bit longer than a minute but to be fair, it's a big universe.

----

AN: Thank you so much to my repeat reviewers, AMbAtMAnyAbAMz, Soreye, and katie mase – it really means a lot to me to get those reviews. This story is immensely fun to write and I'm personally looking forward to seeing what happens next, I hope you are too!


	10. Game Theory Part I

In the end, it came down to just pointing at a place in the sky and saying, "let's go!" It's not like I knew much about popular interplanetary tourist locations.

"Ahh," the Doctor said with a grin. "Ready for the _real_ exploration? None of this jumping back and forth in time, we're off into the stars!"

"You know, it's really uncanny how much you're like the television program. It makes all this seem kind of unreal. Not that it wouldn't seem unreal anyway…." I was trying to broach a subject that was still bothering me. How much of his own life and travels actually mirrored the TV show?

"What's it like, anyway?" he asked. "How do I look? Am I popular? At least I still have my sonic screwdriver."

I laughed. "We'll you're really, I dunno, just like you!"

"I suppose that's true," he said thoughtfully. "It's not really a _story_ about me, is it? It _is_ me in this dimension, just fictional. But there's something odd there in itself – I've never encountered another Time Lord, let alone myself, in any dimension."

"Really? I thought that's what another dimension was. The same things just, mixed around a bit."

"No… Time Lords are funny like that. They seem to be exempt from that rule because they jump around in time, space and dimensions so much. I don't know what it means that I'm here. Well, sort of here. But go on then, what do they think of me?"

"Well I think you're brilliant," I said, blushing. "I mean, a lot of people do. The show is really popular in Europe. In America it's considered pretty geeky, though."

"Geeky?! Do I look geeky to you?" asked the Doctor. I took in his rumpled hair, black-rimmed glasses and position half under the TARDIS control deck, prodding something with an unidentified tool.

"Yup," I answered quickly. "But in a good way."

"Well, I suppose that's alright, then. But what sorts of things do I get up to? Do I have grand adventures? Save the world? Find decent food in England?"

"Er… two out of three I think," I said, laughing again. "Um… let's see. You traveled five billion years in the future and tried to watch the earth explode but ended up having to save an observation deck."

"Well, it was more of a floating luxury hotel," he corrected.

"And you stopped an alien called The Wire from taking over 1950s England through the television."

"Ohh, I'd forgotten about that one! Someone thought I was king of Belgium!"

"You went back in time to visit Shakespeare and found out what happened to the lost play, Love's Labours Won."

"And indirectly assisted in the creation of his most famous sonnet," he added proudly.

"I don't believe it!" I cried. "All of these things actually happened to you!"

"Well, there's bound to be a million little differences here and there. If I actually watched this show, I'm sure it would be like watching a completely different story. Things never line up quite how you'd expect. Anyway, knowing the television producers, they probably added in some hideously unrealistic romance."

It was an unintentional segue into the question I had really wanted to ask.

"Well, in the show, for a long time, you traveled with this gir…." I started, but the Doctor cut me off.

"There! She's all ready to go, aren't you TARDIS?" He sounded like he was talking to a good puppy, not something that would reduce physicists to tears. "That strange energy source, whatever it is, is making my ship go all wonky. We're really going to have to work that out. Now, if I'm correct in remembering, you wanted to go in _that_ general direction?" He gestured towards some part of the sky, unseen through the TARDIS roof. The moment for the question had passed and I nodded.

"Hang on! Here we go!!"

"Doctor, this planet is a broom closet," I said, sticking my head outside the TARDIS.

"Don't be daft, the only planets like that are on the other side of the galaxy," he said. I had opened the door of the TARDIS, peering out nervously, after another bumpy ride through space. And to think I had been bothered by airplane turbulence. As I looked around the dark exterior of the ship, my eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light, I was terribly surprised (although to be entirely honest, given the other possibilities, a little relieved) to see a mop and bucket, a few boxes of tool kits, and cleaning supplies that had labels suggestion they were appropriate for removal of things I had never heard of. The Doctor came up behind me, sticking his head over my shoulder and staring out as well.

"No, I'm pretty sure this planet is a broom closet," I repeated, laughing and stepping out of the TARDIS and towards the door which clearly led to the rest of the planet. There was quite a bit of noise and it sounded like the people of this planet were moving about with a great deal of intensity. The Doctor joined me, realizing I was joking about my initial perception of the planet's scope.

"How very _Narnia_," he said with a wink and strode past me to throw open the door, exposing us to the outside world. For a moment, I was blinded by the sudden light and overwhelmed by the noise which increased several decibel levels. Cautiously, I stepped forward and was stunned by what I saw.

"What happened here, Doctor?" I gasped, barely hearing my own words over the noise. People were running in every direction, pushing one another out of the way. Huge signs seemed to be trying to direct the people but they didn't seem to be having much of an effect. As I took in the scene, I thought it seemed like some sort of refugee camp as many of the people moving quickly were laden with huge bags of clothing and food. Children clung tightly to parents, careful not to get lost in the crowd. And what _people_ they were! I saw some things that looked like they might be human, although after the Doctor and Lydia I didn't want to make any assumptions. But then there were giant insect-like creatures, woolly small rodent-like creatures, robots, people on wheels, people on stilts, people on slug-like tails, people with eight eyes, one eye, two dozen eyes, blue people, green people, red people, puce people… it was impossibly overwhelming. They didn't seem fazed by the diversity that surrounded them but all the same, the tension in the air was palpable and I felt myself nervous on behalf of the stressed travelers, burdened by their bags of belongings.

"Did something terrible happen? Where are all these people from?" I asked the Doctor in shock.

"How would I know?" the Doctor said, surprised. "From just outside, I'd assume." He waved his hand around, indicating the new world on which we had landed.

"But what are they doing _here_? Are they some sort of… I don't know, displaced people?"

The Doctored stared at me, an odd expression on his face. I felt my stomach drop – was he about to tell me another terrible story about death in the universe? Suddenly, he exploded into laughter, leaning against the doorframe of the closet to steady himself.

"What?" I demanded, feeling self-conscious.

"Oh Noelle," he sighed dramatically. "So quickly you forget our first meeting!"

"What's that supposed to mean? I met you in a…." I trailed off and suddenly everything I was seeing slid into place in my brain. I opened and closed my mouth a few times then gave up, finally laughing myself at my mistake.

"Welcome," said the Doctor grandly. "To the Great Intergalactic, Duty-Free, Shopping Mall of Caspidian Four, largest mall in the galaxy."

"Shopping mall," was all I could manage.

"Greatest shopping mall in the universe, although there are some who would argue that point. Two point six billion visitors a month, over twelve thousand shops, nearly nine thousand restaurants and cafes, and employing the population of an entire planet. You can find just about anything in the universe here. Except, for some strange reason, a McDonalds French fry. Never seen anything like that anywhere else in the universe."

As he was speaking, the Doctor had taken my hand and begun to lead me through the mall. Now that I realized what I was looking at, the scene, no less overwhelming, was at least starting to make sense. From the shop windows, I got a sense of the sort of cliental they expected – there were mannequins that were nearly as diverse as the people rushing by the windows. A furry creature in front of a cart was deep-frying unidentifiable chunks of meat in a bubbling green goop. In the distance, I thought I could make out the logo of a popular Earth department store.

"And there are some local shops that have managed to hang around, mostly as a novelty," the Doctor was still explaining. "This book shop is famous, has more first editions than I do, and that's saying something."

I peered in the window and stopped short, causing a wooden creature with six root-like legs to bump into me and then shuffle off angrily, muttering what I could only assume were insults.

"Doctor, that's not local, that's _Harry Potter_!" I cried.

"Well, by local, I mean within the galaxy. But you know, I have never been to a dimension or galaxy where they don't have the story of _Harry Potter_," he said thoughtfully.

"Maybe it means something!" I was excited by this possibility. "Maybe the secret to the universe lies in the story of…" he cut me off.

"Or maybe it's just a good book," he grinned. "Come on or we'll never make it to the food court by nightfall."

We wound our way through the crowds, stopping every so often to poke our heads in various shops. The Doctor had found what must have been the equivalent of an ATM machine and handed me a pile of bills.

"This should be enough to keep you out of trouble but not enough to get you _in_ trouble," he said, pocketing the remainder. So far I hadn't seen anything that I would want to buy, let alone anything that would fit someone of my species. Maybe we were in the wrong part of the mall.

The crowd of aliens rose up around me and I started to try to block everything out. It was too much too fast and my brain was resisting. I felt a splitting head ache coming on and was beginning to feel slightly nauseous again. I had stopped listening to the Doctor, who was still rambling on about the mall and this shop and that species and was just trying to focus on not losing my mind. When a humanoid-figure covered with scales and with metal spikes coming out of his head leered at me, I turned abruptly, towards what looked like a service corridor and pulled myself out of the crowd, breathing heavily.

I was aware the Doctor was following me but I didn't turn back, wanting to get as far as possible from the overwhelmingly alien aliens. The hall led to a large storage facility and, feeling slightly calmer, I sat down on one of the wooden crates. I took a steadying breath then screamed and jumped up as the crate shook under me; there was something clearly alive inside.

"I'm sorry," I cried, finally turning to face the Doctor in embarrassment. "I thought I could do all of this but I can't, I just can't!"

"Aw, come off it," he said consolingly. "Everyone experiences some culture shock. I'd be surprised if you didn't."

"It's just, I thought because I'd seen it on TV, and I wanted to travel the universe so much… I just didn't think it would bother me but they're so _different_."

"And what do you think they think of you, then? All pink and soft and your head all covered in hair?" I looked up at him but saw that he was teasing. "Besides, you thought you'd be okay with aliens because you saw them on a TV show? Branwell _created_ new worlds in his own head and he still went bonkers when he found out there was such a thing. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"I just wish there was something more familiar, just to help me get sense of everything." I chuckled faintly. "My sister was always better with malls than I was." I took out my cell phone and flipped it open, scrolling to the picture of my little sister Clare.

"See, there she is," I showed the Doctor. "Doesn't really look much like me, but we get along really well."

"Let us have a look," he said, taking the phone. He flipped it over and pulled out the card in the back, which he tossed aside. Then he fumbled around in his pocket for a moment and pulled out something that looked almost, but not quite, exactly like the phone card, and slid it in.

"Yup," I grinned. "That's exactly how it works on the TV show."

"You could have just asked, then," said the Doctor smiling. I didn't answer… the phone was already ringing through to my sister.

"Noelle? Where are you? Are you okay?" her voice sounded clear as a bell, as if she was standing beside me and not light years away.

"I'm fine Clare," I laughed. "You'd never ever believe where I am right now."

"I don't know," she said darkly. "After you left, I started watching those Doctor Who shows you left behind. You're not… I don't know, orbiting a black hole or something?" I was inordinately pleased that she had watched the shows.

"No! I'm in an intergalactic shopping mall," I replied. "You wouldn't believe it, there's things here you couldn't even imagine… both in the stores and the people shopping."

"God, Noelle, you're just like Rose aren't you? Is that what it's like? Don't get lost in some alternate dimension!" she laughed but I just looked over at the Doctor who was looking off into space.

"I don't think it's quite like that Clare. Listen, who knows what the bill looks like on this call, I just wanted to say, I love you. And tell mom and dad I love them too."

"Okay Noe! Love you, call me again soon!"

I disconnected from the call and went over to join the Doctor.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah, much. What were you saying about a food court?"

We walked back into the crowds of aliens and I tried not to focus too much of my attention on any one species and just let the whole scene wash over me. Clare had brought up the very point I had been trying to bring myself to discuss with the Doctor. Rose. Rose Tyler, his companion for two years on the television show and, in my personal opinion as a fan, his perfect partner. Was she real? Where had she gone? And, if she was coming back, would I be unceremoniously dumped off back at home when the Doctor was done with me?

These thoughts were swimming through my head as I paced alongside the Doctor. Finally, I knew I just had to ask.

"Doctor, there's something I need to know."

"Yes," he said heavily. "I do regret taking that yellow pill at the Tragalornia Shuttle Launch Party but they told me it was banana flavoured."

"No, no," I said, not willing to be distracted this time. "In the TV show, you have a companion for a while, this girl. I was wondering if you really knew someone named…."

I trailed off, completely unable to deal with this new approaching visual. As it flew low over the crowd, fire spewing from its jaws, it looked as dangerous as anything could ever imagine.

"…Doctor, is that a dragon?"

AN: Hope you're enjoying! Can't write much of an AN, as I'm late for work – I'll update this tonight and hopefully get the next chapter up tomorrow .


	11. Gamer Theory Part II

**January 3, 2008 – Evening**

"Oh, that's beautiful!" the Doctor cried as the dragon flew straight towards us.

"Doctor, get down!" I shouted, diving to the floor and pulling him down with me. Around us were the screams and cries of the frightened shoppers. The dragon came closer and looking up I could see with painful clarity the jagged teeth, bloodshot eyes and cinnamon colored tongue.

"Where did it come from?" I yelled over the noise.

"I don't know but I'm looking forward to finding out!" said the Doctor, rising as the dragon passed over us. He started to sprint after the flying lizard, leaping over the crouched shoppers in his haste to follow the dragon. I was about to start after him when something caught my attention, trailing in the dragon's wake.

"Doctor," I shouted again, standing up. "I think you'd better have a look at this."

"Bit busy," he called back and jumped up to grab the dragon around the middle, presumable to pull it out of its flight. With a look of shock, the Doctor felt straight to the floor, his arms clasped around empty air. The dragon flew onward with another glorious burst of flame from its jaws.

"Right, when you're done slaying the dragon, you might want to take a look at this," I said, coming to stand next to him. The other shoppers had begun to rise from their crouched defensive positions and were beginning to point up at the golden trail of words that were floating along merrily behind the dragon.

_Welcome shoppers! _It said. _We invite you to visit the brand new all-ages arcade to play Galactic Combat Quest, the fully immersive virtual reality combat game that's taking the universe by storm. Ranked universally as the most challenging game that has ever, or will ever, exist!_

"You know, I think I prefer when advertisements aren't quite so… attention grabbing," I said ruefully.

"It's hard to get people's attention around here," a stranger said, coming up to the Doctor and me. "Did you like the display?"

"Well when I realized it wasn't going to roast me," I said. The stranger was beaming around at the crowd of stunned mall visitors, taking in their reactions. He seemed human enough, but was very short, almost two feet shorter than I am, and had purple eyes, a rather twitchy nose and enormous ears. He was wearing a green waist coat and white pants and gloves. "And you are?" I asked.

"I," he said with a small bow. "Am Wally White and the Galactic Combat Quest representative here at the mall. I organize displays like this one, tournaments in the arcade, answer questions about the game… and we do birthday parties," he finished proudly.

"Aah, that was brilliant," said the Doctor, still staring after the dragon. "A virtual creature that has _me_ fooled… that's just genius. Galactic Combat Quest? Never heard of it."

"Well that's cause it's new, then, innit?" said Wally. "Just released to major arcades throughout the universe two weeks ago. But trust me, this is going to be around for a while. Every review has said it's the only truly challenging game, that no one can beat it. Hours of enjoyment."

"I'm not sure I'd find that enjoyable," I said, imagining playing a game I couldn't beat.

"Oh well there are multiplayer modes and mini quest modes but only a genius could beat the full quest."

I took a deep breath before looking at the Doctor, quite sure of what I was going to see. He was grinning in that way I found unsettling. The way that usually meant something I had no hope of comprehending was going to happen next.

"Noelle, this sounds like my kind of game. Besides, I've never been so impressed with a hologram in my life," said the Doctor.

"That's because it's not a hologram," Wally said. "It's actually generated by the same technology that's used in the game. There's nothing there, your brain just sees a dragon because we send a mild electrical pulse that stimulates those nerves. Of course we left out the touch, sound, smell, and all the other senses that are built into the game."

"I'm finding myself with a passing fancy to see this game of yours," said the Doctor. There was a long pause. "And it's not passing, it's stopped. Right, lead the way, I'm going to beat the Galactic Combat Quest."

Wally led us through the mall, handing out arcade tokens to various passersbys along the way.

"We really need to drum up publicity," he explained. "Of course everyone agrees it's the most challenging game in the universe, but if someone comes along and beats the thing, we need to know about it so we can improve the game."

"But why's it so important to have the hardest game in the universe?" I asked. "Do people really want that much of a challenge?" I paused then added, "where I come from, most people are way too lazy for anything that puts up that much of a puzzle."

"Well it's not just a game, right? Sure, it's good fun for all the players and great for people who like the challenge, but it's for the competition."

"What competition?" the Doctor asked quickly.

"Where've you been, Earth?" Wally laughed. "I thought everyone knew – the military leaders of the six major intergalactic alliances are offering a 200 billion credit reward to the company that provides them with software to train and monitor the progress of recruits, soldiers and officers. Just about every major company in the greater galaxy has allocated some resources towards building it. And Virtual Reality Inc. is about to take the prize with the Galactic Combat Quest. This release to customers is a chance to show players the future of combat quest games and test the product."

By this time, we were approaching what could only be the mall's arcade. The dark room was filled with flashing lights and clearly appealed to the more youthful males of any particular species. A light blue equine something-or-other covered in piercings was firing a sonic blaster happily at a screen of screaming blobs. Two scaly, winged things were swatting a golden pebble back and forth across a table in what looked suspiciously like air hockey. There were even two people jumping around on a platform with sixteen glowing arrows, mimicking the dance moves of the screen in front of them.

"No fair!" I heard one of them complain. "You've got more legs than me."

"So you're saying," said the Doctor. "That you made an arcade game to get a reward from the military? The real point of your game is to train people to kill?"

"And be smart about it!" enthused Wally. "It's not enough to be strong or skilled with weapons in this game, you have to be smart too."

"Alright, let's see this thing, then," said the Doctor, practically bouncing in excitement. "Noelle, I've just got a feeling, this is going to be good."

"Whatever you say," I agreed nervously as Wally led us over to the game.

Galactic Combat Quest was clearly the centerpiece of the arcade. A red velvet rope had been looped around the perimeter of the game keeping the onlookers back and a large crowd was already gathered around the current players. The players were seated in high-backed black chairs and grasped a golden knob at the end of the armrests in each hand. They both wore helmets that covered their entire heads and faces.

"I don't get it, why's everyone standing around. There's nothing to see, clearly it's only any fun for the person in the game," I said, a bit annoyed that I wouldn't have any idea of what I was getting myself into. At least, I told myself, this isn't for real, it's only a game.

One of the players was moving, he had lifted his hands from the golden knobs and was removing his helmet amid the cheers of the crowd.

"Ug, and we were doing so well!" he cried. "Well Bobby's still in there at least."

The kid, a lanky teenager who could have passed for human, clambered down from the chair next to his friend and instantly the crowd surrounded him, eager to learn something about the game.

"Well it was like… really, you know? I dunno, I just fought a bunch of stuff and kicked some major butt until the dragon wiped the floor with me and I was totally KOed," the boy was saying, enjoying the attention.

"But it's the hardest game ever, right?" asked a small girl.

"Oh yeah man, dude I would have been out ages ago without Bobby but man's a genius so he saved us a ton. Dude, it's crazy in there. It's like… real. I mean, it's like you're right there. Come on Bobby," he started, turning back towards the game then paused, confused.

"Dude, did anyone see Bobby leave?" The crowd, who had been focused on him, shook their heads. "Lame-o! Bro just took off. Must have been POed I was getting all the attention." The kid laughed then shrugged. "Gotta go find the kid now, dude, I'm never gonna find him in all of this."

"Doctor, I didn't see Bobby leave," I said under my breath.

"I know," he agreed. "One minute he was playing the game and the next he was gone. I knew this was going to be fun!"

"You and I have very, very different definitions of fun. Doctor, are you sure this is a good idea?" I said.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Our next players have arrived," said Wally, grabbing the Doctor and me by the arms and leading us towards the chairs. The tall black things looked more ominous by the minute, a sharp contrast to the Doctor who was looking more and more excited. We seated ourselves in the chairs and Wally handed us the helmets.

"I'm pretty sure something terrible is about to happen," I muttered to the Doctor, who had already slid on his helmet and grabbed the golden knobs.

"Terrible? Don't be silly," said Wally. "Besides," he added in a low voice next to my ear. "You pair don't look like you'll get far enough through the game to have any issues at all." He grinned toothily and lowered the helmet over my head.

Suddenly I was in an open field. The Doctor was a few steps ahead of me but looked… different.

"Doctor," I started, and he turned to face me. Unable to control myself, I burst out laughing at his appearance. What I had thought was his typical brown coat was actually a cape, fastened below his chin. His torso was covered in solid metal plating that gleamed slightly and along his arms and legs were fastened heavy shields. His ordinary-looking shoes had been replaced with giant combat boots in the same metal as his chest plate. In place of his glasses was a single piece of wrap-around eyewear. The helmet from the arcade was still in place but was refashioned to appear as part of the costume and no longer covered his entire head. He looked, completely and unabashedly, like a video game character. I clapped my hand over my mouth, shaking with laughter.

"Oh come off it," he said, annoyed. "You look a right picture yourself." This stopped my laughter immediately and I looked down in horror. I also looked like something out of a video game. But females in video games tend to have significantly less clothing than their male counterparts.

"Who the hell thinks anyone can fight in this?" I asked, indicating my metal, strapless leotard and thigh-high boots. My hair seemed longer also but was held back by my own helmet, which had become more of a circlet or tiara on my head. My only form of armor seemed to be some sort of metal bands on my wrists and upper arms. "This is absolutely ridiculous!"

_Welcome!_ A voice suddenly spoke somewhere through the game. _To Galactic Combat Quest. You are playing in full quest mode. To exit the game, simply remove your helmet and you will return to reality._

_Your goal is to cross through one room to enter another. In each room, different opponents will try to block you from your goal. Your final score will be based on the number of rooms you enter and the time you take. You are in the first room. Good luck!_

"Is that it?" I asked. "No more instruction than that?" I glanced around and noticed that there was a wooden door standing at the opposite end of the field.

"It sounds simple enough. Well, basically simple enough. Well, like the sort of thing that sounds simple enough but turns out not to be," said the Doctor, striding forward. I stomped after him, still trying to get used to the boots and the rest of the outfit.

"At least we know how to get out of here if we need to. Just remove the helmets," I said. I reached up to test the theory and the moment I touched the cold metal, I felt for just a moment that I was back in the noisy arcade.

_Players are reminded_, the voice spoke again. _That removal of their helmet will immediately end the game._

"Fine," I spoke to the air, annoyed. I took an extra large stomp and crushed a giant mushroom under my foot.

"Come on, Noelle, let the game begin!"

I won't bore anyone with the details of the game. It was your typical fighting combat sort of game and I honestly didn't care for it too much. The Doctor was brilliant, of course, and I usually just stood aside as he moved us through. In some cases, there were puzzles to solve and I was particularly proud of myself for finding the hidden door in probably the seventh or eighth room we entered. As we progressed, the opponents became increasingly threatening and difficult to pass.

Finally, we reached the giant dragon that had been advertised.

"We must be getting near the end!" I panted, dodging a flame. The bit that had really started to concern me was the fact that I was feeling pain whenever our opponents landed a blow or, for instance, when a fire-breathing dragon's flame got too close. I hadn't thought that the virtual reality would include real pain.

Along the way we had found various weapons, mostly ordinary swords and guns, but we had also amassed a collection of strange radiating plants, glowing orbs, helms of protection and lord knows what else. My backpack, a lucky find behind a tree in room four, was just about full.

"Nearly done here!" said the Doctor, executing some sort of pirouette under the dragon and jamming the sword through a weak point between two scales. "Run for it Noelle, this should keep him down long enough to get really, really angry. And hopefully let us get by. But if not, then all it's good for is making him really, really angry." I was already moving towards the door. I threw it open and jumped into the next room, waiting just a moment for the Doctor to fling himself through behind me. I slammed the door shut and jumped back with a cry of pain as the door handle glowed red-hot, conducting the heat of a very angry dragon's flame.

We paused to catch our breath then looked around. The rooms we had entered so far had been mostly outdoor scenes (although there was one rooftop fight that nearly ended in me having my own tussle with the concrete eighty floors below) of forests, caverns, oceans and cliff-tops. But now, everything was pitch black. If I hadn't seen the Doctor moving ahead of me, I wouldn't have believed I was walking forward at all. There was no floor or ceiling or walls, just blackness.

"Doctor, I was thinking," I said, taking advantage of the downtime to bring up something that had been bothering me about the game. "You said you'd never heard of it but Wally White said that it was probably going to be around for ages. If you've been to the future and there's no Galactic Combat Quest, does that mean it doesn't survive?"

"Well, just because I haven't heard of it doesn't mean it's not around. But there is something odd there, you're right. Maybe it's just not as challenging as everyone says it is and it doesn't last. Or doesn't win that award he was going on about."

I snorted. Only the Doctor would think what we had just gone through wasn't hard. I hadn't even been fighting and I was drenched in sweat, aching from head to toe and bleeding from a cut on my arm. If it hadn't been for the Doctor, I probably would have given up by the fifth room in.

"I've got to admit, I'm a little disappointed," said the Doctor as we moved through the blackness.

"Why, not enough of a challenge for you?" I said, exasperated.

"No no no, not that. That demon-y thing with the eight arms nearly had us good and beaten there, didn't it? No, there just was no witty banter. Terrible to have a game without witty banter. Makes the whole process sort of monotonous, don't you think?"

Banter had been the last think I had been thinking about but I nodded amiably.

"So where is this next monster then anyway?" I asked. As if on cue, a figure rose out of the shadows. It was the first humanoid creature we had seen but it was completely encased in a metal body suit and wielding two giant swords; one appeared to be made of fire while the other seemed to be made of ice.

"Bugger," said the Doctor.

"What, it's just a guy in a suit like you. Shouldn't be so bad," I said as the figure approached.

"It's not some dumb monster, I'm willing to bet this has most of the game's intelligence as well. Stand back Noelle and if I get knocked out just take off your helmet and we'll regroup in the arcade."

The fight that ensued would have put any action movie to shame. The Doctor and his opponent moved so quickly that their weapons were a blur. For nearly ten minutes the two battled back and forth while I watched, worried that if I took my eyes off them, even for a minute, something terrible would happen.

"Oy, I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but we're all curious about the end game, right?" said the Doctor, ducking as a pair of swords swung over his head.

"What are you talking about?" I called the added, "look out!"

"I _suppose _it's technically cheating but hey, now they can say they've had a Time Lord in their user test group." He took a step back, a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

"Doctor!!" I screamed as the icy blade came towards him. I was unable to look away but suddenly, miraculously, he was behind his opponent, both the fire and ice swords in his hands. He tossed them aside and lifted off the helmet of the fighter who instantly sunk to the ground.

"No!" he shouted, the first words I had heard from any of the characters in the game. "No! I tried to beat you, I could have done it, what did you do? _What did you do_?"

"Hey," I said running over to the fallen fighter who looked about my age now that his helmet was off. "It's okay, it's just a game, you're just a character, why does it matter? Or is this part of the test?"

"Funny sort of test," the boy said looking horrified. "Find the door then. Go onto the next room. Just don't say I didn't try to help you. I ain't seen anyone fight like that."

I looked around but the boy was right, there was no door in sight, only darkness. I turned to the Doctor for an answer but the Doctor didn't seem to be paying attention to us.

"Doctor, how are we going to move on now?" I asked.

"I think we might have run into something slightly more problematic," he said, his voice steady. I stared at him, wondering if he had been hurt. He looked fine, he was staring at something in his hands. He turned to face me and suddenly I realized what it was he was holding; his helmet.

"Doctor," I said slowly. "I thought that removing your helmet took you out of the game. Brought you back to reality." In a panic, I lifted the circlet off of my own head. Nothing happened. I put it back on then lifted it off again. Still nothing.

"I told you," said the boy miserably. "I tried to stop you, I did."

I looked at him closely. Although I had hadn't seen his face before, I had a sinking feeling that I knew who this final opponent had been.

"Bobby?" I asked, looking him in the eyes. "Is that you?"

--

AN: I can't begin to thank my thoughtful reviews enough. That is the only reason I've kept up with the story this long (although I do have it planned through to the conclusion!). I'm so excited that people are actually enjoying this! This chapter was a rough one to write but I wanted to get it up so I can move on with the story. Hope you're sticking with me this far!


	12. Game Theory Part III

"In the room with the dragon, Ty freaked out, took off his helmet," Bobby was explaining. "Disappeared like that. I figured, hey, I did most of it on my own anyway and the dragon was pretty confused when Bobby vanished in front of him so I just ran for it and got through the door. I was in this black room and there was this guy in a mask I had to beat and then…."

Bobby was cut off by the female voice of the game narrator which had so far been absent since the first room.

_Thank you for participating in Galactic Combat Quest_, it spoke pleasantly.

"That's how it started for me too!" said Bobby in a panicked voice. The Doctor shushed him.

_You seem to have beaten the last opponent in full quest mode. Your journey has indicated that the quest is not as challenging as it should be._

"Doesn't sound very congratulatory," I said, annoyed.

_To maintain our standards for highest challenge level, your character has been added to the game queue. You are now the final opponent. High level opponents are reminded that the consequence for losing three times to game players is deletion. You will now be escorted to your battle room._

"This is where they come to get you," said Bobby, his voice wavering with fear. "And now I already lost once, if two more people beat me, I'm gonna get deleted like the last guy!"

I could hear heavy footsteps in the distance, although in the blackness it was impossible to tell the direction from which they were arriving.

"Who was the last guy?" asked the Doctor.

"The guy who had beat the dragon before in the arcade, who got to the end! I didn't know he was a real person!"

The footsteps were getting closer and in the distance I could see a gleam of metal.

"Bobby, no body blames you, you couldn't know but you need to tell me and quickly, what happened," said the Doctor firmly.

"I… I pulled off the mask and was about to roast him with my sword when he started talking. He said," Bobby gave a choking sob. "He said the he'd been here for ages, it felt like weeks, that I was the third one to beat him and he got… they came and…."

"Tell us!" said the Doctor as two giant creatures with the heads of elephants and the bodies of humans wearing plate armor reached out for us. I screamed as one grabbed my arms and began to pull me into the blackness. The Doctor was being carried along as well but seemed not even to notice as he watched Bobby who was now shaking uncontrollably.

"He exploded!" the boy finally screamed. "He exploded everywhere. I don't want to die! I don't want to get deleted! I don't…."

We had been pulled out of hearing range and the blackness surrounded us. Suddenly a new door appeared between Bobby and the Doctor and I, similar to the other doors throughout the game. Instantly, the room changed from black to white and the elephant men let us go, marching off into the distance. I ran to the door and tried the knob but it was locked.

"Doctor, what are we going to do?" I cried.

"This is just genius," he said, clearly not listening to me. "Really brilliant, what a program. Although they could have given us a nicer room to fight in, this is _boring_."

"You don't seriously think we're going to stay here and fight in this game for the rest of our lives, do you?" I asked in horror.

"Nah, 'course not. But you've got to appreciate the beauty of the game. You tell everyone you're the most challenging game in the universe, unbeatable. Then let everyone come play and if anyone _does_ beat the game, just suck them in and make them the next level opponent.

"But what happened to our bodies?" I asked.

"Good question. I wonder," said the Doctor thoughtfully. I really wished he would approach this problem with the urgency I was feeling but to him it seemed no more pressing than a mildly interesting puzzle. "The body has to be somewhere near the game because there's no other way to keep our consciousness alive. But Bobby vanished… must be some kind of teleportation."

"I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but how are we going to get out of here? Do you think it's a bluff? We should just wait for someone to come beat us three times?"

"Oh, it's not a bluff. We're part of the consciousness of the game now, can't you feel it?"

I thought about it for a minute and somewhere in the back of my mind, more like a memory than any active thought, I felt the structure of Galactic Combat Quest running through my head like lines of code.

"And it really needs us to believe we're going to die otherwise we're no good fighting, we'd just lose and get out. Completely defeating the purpose. And…" he paused, thinking. "It seems like losing on purpose would also trigger the deletion of our characters, like Bobby said. I wonder if that's what happened to the other people who've gotten by. Let's see, every game has it's weak points, no code is perfect…." He trailed off, concentrating on the structure of the game.

For a few moments I waited while he mumbled to himself, pacing what should have been the floor but was really just white nothingness.

"Ahh!" he said at last. "Now why they would use _that_ algorithm when everything else looks so good… messy, messy."

"Meaning?" I asked, completely lost by this point.

"The algorithm coordinating player journey is by definition additive only and doesn't allow for a massive division or relocation of NPC opponents from top to bottom."

I stared at him blankly and said, "clear as mud, Doctor." He looked at me strangely, as if only realizing I was trying to follow along and then tried again.

"Um, the equation that ranks the opponents only orders the rooms properly when one players beats the last opponent, thus adding a new room. There's nothing in the equation to account for a top level opponent beating the level one opponent," he explained. "If we can confuse the game by beating the opponent from the first room, it will cause a feedback loop as the equation tries to rerank the whole structure. That _should_ freeze the game, releasing our consciousnesses back to our bodies."

"Did you just figure that out?" I asked, slightly stunned.

"Oh, you know me, I like puzzles. And they did say this was a challenging game. Looks like it's living up to its name!" he grinned at me but I couldn't return the smile.

"But Doctor, we can't get back through the door."

He smirked and said, "Oh, I was always the kid who was looking for game cheat codes." With that he held his hand in front of his mouth and retched, coughed and caught the sonic screwdriver which he had clearly swallowed before the game started.

"How did you do that? How did you get it in here?" I was floored.

"Well, I thought we might run into some problems and the game makes a copy of your body exactly – not your physical appearance because they clearly insist on these ridiculous costumes – but your muscle structure, your build, your hearts… and the contents of your stomach. So I swallowed my sonic screwdriver making it, technically, a part of my body. I figured it out when Wally White told us this was built for military training. They would have wanted trainees to be the same as in reality – not super powered in the game – otherwise it wouldn't have been accurate training."

"Yeah, you're brilliant – although you could have choked on that thing and then where would that have left me?"

I followed the Doctor silently as he zapped open the door, which unlocked immediately and headed back into Bobby's black room. When I think about how smart the Doctor is, sometimes it makes my head hurt a little so I try not to focus on the issue too much. But it's times like that where the fact is completely undeniable and, thankfully, incredibly helpful.

"Hullo!" said the Doctor to Bobby who was curled miserably on the blackness.

"Wha… how did you…."

"It's okay," I said to the stunned Bobby. "I don't get it either."

"I explained it perfectly clearly," the Doctor said, sounding just a touch put out. "So what do you say, want to get out of here?"

Bobby leapt to his feet, chain mail rattling. "Man, what do I have to do, just tell me who to KO! Let's frag our way out of this place! These guys are gonna get so pwned!" I thought I could see a bit of the manic gleam in his eye that probably got him this far and despite everything had to resist the urge to laugh at his language. The Doctor grinned at him.

"Love the enthusiasm, but we'll have to hold off on the fragging. Alright Bobby, Noelle, here's what we're going to do."

----

Bobby was under strict orders not to attack anything, no matter what. The way the Doctor had explained it, the game was smart enough to try to work out a solution to the bug in the code if it realized what we were up to so we had to get back down to the first level without actually killing anything in between. This proved less problematic than I had anticipated, as none of the opponents expected us to appear from the door _behind _them. We did run into a bit of trouble around room twenty seven with the eight-armed demon who had nearly finished us off before but we just made it through before it caught up with us.

"Look out, we're going to be getting company pretty soon!" called the Doctor as we sprinted past a group of lizard people with spears.

"What do you mean?" I gasped, completely out of breath.

"It's the elephant people!" shouted Bobby. "Doctor, can I at least fight off them?"

"Well, you could if you wanted to be stuck here forever however I would very strongly recommend you just keep running." We did so.

The guards we closing in on us as we threw ourselves through the door into the second room where we had encountered a rooster as our first opponent.

"Doctor, isn't this it? We fight here and lose?" I asked, wondering how on earth we were going to lose to a chicken. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment. I could hear the thundering footsteps of our followers closing in behind us, ready to drag us back to our own fighting rooms.

"No, this isn't the first room. We have to go back to room one, it's the only way to confuse the system enough!"

"But there wasn't even an opponent there," said Bobby. As he spoke the handle turned and the guards streamed in. With only one place left to go, the Doctor, Bobby and I flung open the final door and ran into the first room. I felt a mild loathing towards the open field which had been such a pleasant opening scene for the game. Behind me, the Doctor zapped the door's lock with the sonic screwdriver.

"There, that should hold them for a bit. Now, there must be something here that we passed, something we technically beat, to get through to the second room," said the Doctor, looking around quickly. "Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't putting up much of a fight."

I thought back to my first few minutes in the game.

"I stepped on a giant mushroom," I offered half-heartedly but the Doctor perked up.

"Oh? Well, that could work properly, it's a living thing after all. Where was it?"

We spent a few minutes combing the grassy area looking for my mushroom as the pounding on the door increased and I wondered how much longer the lock could hold them out.

"Here it is!" cried Bobby, bending over to uproot the spotted fungi.

"Don't kill it!" shouted the Doctor, running over to join him. "It needs to beat us, not the other way around."

"How do you expect we're going to get beaten by a plant?" I demanded.

"Well…" said the Doctor. "That is an excellent question."

"That's it?" Bobby said, his voice rising in panic again. "You don't know what to do now? What, are you making this up as you go along?"

"Yep," the Doctor agreed. "But I'm always so good at it."

"But we're stuck now," I said angrily. "And any minute those guards are going to break through and we're going to be stuck fighting people who think we're part of the world's most challenging game for the rest of eternity."

"Or until we get beaten and explode," added Bobby.

"Oy!" said the Doctor loudly. "Fat lot of good you two are doing, sitting around complaining like the world's going to end. Now just let me think."

"Might as well have choked on your sonic screwdriver," I muttered, subconsciously redirecting my fear towards anger at the Doctor. He looked at me and for a moment I thought he was going to offer some retort when his eyes widened and he started to grin.

"Noelle you're brilliant! Come on then, can you do the Heimlich maneuver?" he asked, laughing.

"What? No! Doctor, I didn't really want you to choke on your sonic screwdriver!" I said quickly.

"Of course you didn't," he said, still laughing. "Come on then, can you?"

"Well, I know how to do it in theory, I've never actually done it before… but I don't see what this has to do with…." The Doctor cut me off.

"Ohh, mushrooms are dangerous things! Especially when they fry them up with butter and you pop the whole thing in your mouth and someone tells a funny joke. All of a sudden… mushroom in your windpipe and it all goes black. Nasty little buggers, those mushrooms!"

"Doctor…" I started, beginning to realize exactly what he had in mind. "You cannot be serious. Don't you dare…"

"What?" asked Bobby, looking quickly between us.

"Now Noelle, you have to wait until I pass out. Otherwise it's no good, I'm not beaten. When I keel over, Heimlich away, but not a moment before."

"Doctor, no!" I shouted. "What if it doesn't work? What if that doesn't count as being beaten? What if I can't bring you back?"

"What's going on?" Bobby asked again. We ignored him.

"Please," I said in a small voice. "What if I mess up?"

"Noelle," he said gently, taking my hand. "You can do this."

With that he grabbed the mushroom, popped it into his mouth and inhaled. I stared in shock as the Doctor stopped breathing. He checked his watch and rolled his eyes, making a gesture towards his chest that clearly said "large lung capacity, this might take a minute." He was starting to go slightly blue but hadn't passed out and I didn't want to risk ruining our one chance to get out of the game.

There was a loud crash behind me as the door gave way and the elephant men guards ran into the field, weapons raised. I looked at the Doctor in a panic – he had started to go white now but he nodded at me and held up three fingers. One of the guards had reached us and grabbed Bobby who was yelling his head off as he was dragged towards the door. The Doctor put down one finger. I looked around for anything to defend myself and the Doctor with but the area was clear except for the approaching guards. He put down another finger, holding up only one. The guards had reached us and one raised his sword over the Doctor's head. I screamed as the Doctor put down the last finger and fell to the ground, unable to breath.

There was a great rushing of air and noise and darkness but all I could think about was getting to the Doctor. Trying to remember what I had learned in first aid training I made a fist and wrapped my arms around his waist, fitting my fist under his rib cage and placing my other hand on top. With a jerking motion I pulled inward and upward. With a tiny popping sound, the mushroom came flying out of the Doctor's mouth but he lay, pale as death, in front of me. I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy and disoriented and looked up to find myself, kneeling over the Doctor, back in the arcade, Bobby standing dazedly beside us.

"Clear. The. Way." A cold, metallic voice was coming from behind the crowd of people that had surrounded us but I could have tuned out a marching band – the only sound I needed to hear came from the man lying in front of me – a great gasp of air as the Doctor started breathing again.

"We. Are. Medical. Support," came the voice jerkily and a large purple robot with tentacles for arms appeared above us. "Is. Assistance. Required?"

I looked down at the Doctor, whose color had returned, and he winked at me.

"No," I said, my voice breaking with relief. "I think I've got a Doctor, thank you."

-----

I couldn't decide if the best part of the whole process was watching the dark, hooded figures carry Wally White away in handcuffs, or seeing a band of tiny robots burrow into the Galactic Combat Quest game to investigate the process, destroying the game. Either way, between our sudden reappearance and Bobby's ever more dramatic retelling of what had happened inside the virtual reality game, it was pretty clear that it was going to be out of commission for quite a while.

The mall was still teeming with visitors, even though it seemed that hours had passed since we had first seen that telltale dragon. The aliens were overwhelming but for some reason I found I wasn't quite as bothered by them. At least, as far as I could tell, none of them wanted to lock up my consciousness and trap me in a video game. Of course, with interplantatary travel, you can never tell.

"I said I wanted something more familiar to help me deal with all of this," I said ruefully as the Doctor and I made our way through the mall. "I guess I'll have to deal with the fact that's not going to be happening any time soon."

"Ohh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," said the Doctor with a grin. "Come on then!"

He took my hand and we began to move with a purpose through the crowd. Half-speed walking, half-jogging to keep up with him, I laughed, "where are we going?"

"You'll see!" he said mysteriously. After nearly ten minutes at our brisk pace, the Doctor stopped short, almost sending me into a crowd of what looked like super-intelligent yaks. "Here we are, then!"

"Where are we," I asked, trying to see through the crowd. He pulled me to the side and I could have cried with the wonderful familiarity of the shop in front of us.

"You've got to be kidding me," I grinned.

"What? You seriously thought we could find any place in this galaxy without a Starbucks? Not a chance." The Doctor had maneuvered us to the register. "Banana frap for me," he said, smiling at the barista. "What about you Noelle?"

"Honestly, just a big cup of coffee would be wonderful." I looked imploringly at the woman serving us. "And I mean big. I'm not sure what sort of mugs you have back there, but pick you biggest one and just fill it with coffee."

We sat at a small table, sipping our beverages. The Doctor had a laugh making fun of the fact that they had served me in what looked more like a small fountain than a cup (it must have been for one of the larger species) but after a few minutes we drifted off into companionable silence. After everything that had happened, all we had been though, I still couldn't keep the question off my mind. This time, I was determined not to be deterred by TARDIS repairs, dragons or my own apprehension.

"Doctor, did you know a Rose Tyler?" I asked, looking straight at him.

There was a long pause.

"I wondered if you knew," he said finally.

"So Rose does exist! Where is she?"

"I lost her," he said heavily.

"Well, yeah, you lost her in the show too, but she was just in another dimension, and your TARDIS can go between dimensions just fine so why can't you…." He cut me off.

"She's not in another dimension. I lost her."

"What does that mean," I asked, going cold.

"She was lost into the void. She slipped. She's gone and I can't get her back."

I was at a loss for words. This wasn't what I had expected and felt awful for bringing up the subject at all. The Doctor looked horribly upset.

"I'm so sorry," I said softly. "I didn't know."

"And you're not replacing her. No one can replace her. She was… Rose," he said, his voice slightly chilly.

"I know," I said quickly. "I'm not trying to."

He sighed then looked at me with a weak smile. "All the same, you were quite good to today. I'm glad I've got you along."

"Thanks," I said without any real feeling. It was clear that I would never be the girl he had lost.

With a final slurp, he finished his drink and tossed the cup into the trash behind him.

"Alright Noelle Kelley, back to the TARDIS? I think we can probably find a planet where video games haven't even been invented!" he said with an enthusiasm that sounded a bit forced.

Side by side, we made our way back through the mall and to the waiting TARDIS.

------

AN: For the record, I'm a huge Doctor/Rose shipper and don't intend to support any ships other than that one (despite the fact that Noelle herself might wish otherwise). Also, hullo there to you lurkers – I can see plenty of people who have this story on alert but haven't commented at all. Show yourselves! Thanks for sticking with me and Soreye, did you really think I'd leave out Starbucks?? I did have that part planned all along but the banana frap is all yours. I'm sure the Doctor says thanks!


	13. The Greenhouse Effect Part I

**February 1, 2008**

Because it's been nearly impossible to update my journal through all these crazy situations the Doctor and I find ourselves in, I usually just try to update retrospectively. Besides, the fact that I'm never any sure if the dates actually line up really means I'm just guessing when I throw a date in this book. Even though it feels like we just left the intergalactic mall yesterday, I feel I'd better jump ahead to the proper date as long as I'm pretending to go by Earth time. Shoot, I'm getting ahead of myself again. Right, where was I?

"I don't really need to go somewhere video games haven't been invented," I said, already thinking about where and when we could go next.

"Nah, didn't really mean that was a travel criteria. All the same, let's stay away from the games for a while," said the Doctor with a grin.

We were back inside the TARDIS and, according to the Doctor, drifting along in outer space until he told the ship where to go. I opened the door for just a moment to catch a glimpse of stars floating lazily past us but it was too cold to stargaze for long.

"It's really no trouble to travel between dimensions?" I asked.

"Not a bit. I'm living proof of that, aren't I?" he said, fiddling with a knob on the control deck that seemed to have no particular purpose.

"Well can we go to your dimension?" I said, excited.

"Why would you want to do that? Clearly it's just about the same as yours, you can tell that from this Doctor Who show of yours."

"Yeah but all the people in the show are _real_!" I said and then added with a silly grin, "I could meet Captain Jack Harkness." The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Hang around Cardiff long enough in any universe and you'll end up in Torchwood, that city is like an interdimensional taxi service. The kind of taxi service where the driver doesn't speak your language and you end up somewhere dangerous and smelly and still have to pay double the fare you expected."

"Alright, alright," I laughed. "We don't have to go to Cardiff. But I do want to see an alternate dimension and see how everything is different."

"How will you know if it's different if you don't know what it's like in this dimension?" asked the Doctor logically.

"Well we'll just have to go to a place I do know," I said stubbornly. I wanted to see another dimension. "It would be too weird to go home… and what if I ran into myself…" I trailed off, thinking hard. After a moment, it hit me. "I know! What about my college? Ooh, just think of all the ways it could be different…."

"Yeah, and just think of all the ways it could be the same," said the Doctor rather unenthusiastically. I was continually getting the feeling that his idea of exciting adventures and my own didn't always line up quite equally. "Hold on, college? I didn't know you were a student," he said in surprise.

"What did you think I did? I didn't just sit around all day waiting for you to show up," I shrugged.

"I don't know, I met you at the shops, I just assumed you worked there. It's funny, I tend to meet a lot of people in shops. Or places with shops. Odd."

"I was _shopping_! Anyway, yes, I'm at college. Well, I was before you came along. And trust me, I've learned more in the last week than in the last four years at school."

"Go on then, what do you study?" he asked.

"Biology. And English."

"Ahh, that explains the museum. And the Brontes. Good for you, always important to learn stuff," he grinned. "Alright, who am I to deny a student her place of learning. Noelle, let's see this college of yours in my dimension. But I'm warning you, I don't image it'll be too different than your school. Where to?"

"It's called Brimson, it's in upstate New York," I said happily. The Doctor rolled his eyes but began to program the coordinates into the TARDIS computer. I entirely failed to resist smiling at the whirring sound as the TARDIS began to travel. It gets me every time. This time, however, as we travelled bumpily through space and time and the void, I felt an odd tugging. Even though I was sitting still, holding onto the TARDIS deck, inside I felt like a rubber band that was being stretched tautly through the universes. Then with a sudden and uncomfortable snap, things went right again and the TARDIS shuddered to a halt.

Without waiting for the Doctor I jumped through the door and looked around. I closed my eyes, shook my head, and looked around again. Slowly I headed back into the TARDIS, trying not to let the disappointment show on my face.

"Well, you were right," I said but the Doctor wasn't paying any attention, he was too focused on something on the ship's monitors. "Doctor," I said, wanting to get the I-told-you-so's over with. "It's exactly like Brimson at home, nothing's different here."

"That," said the Doctor, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Is because we're not in an alternate dimension. Something went wrong, we were going about it properly and moving into the void when we got… I dunno, flung back." He patted the control deck of the TARDIS comfortingly. "Something is not right."

"Is there something wrong with the TARDIS?" I asked.

"What could be wrong with my ship? No, she's fine. Well, she's probably not the main cause of the problem. Well, know what, I think I'm going to check just to be sure it's not the ship."

"But that means this, out there," I waved towards the TARDIS door. "That's my school. In my world. In the present day."

"Yup," said the Doctor. "Like you never left. Go on, visit your friends, check out library books, do whatever it is college students do. On Gallifrey you're in the academy from the age of eight until… well, you leave, in my case, not quite like the American college experience. Although we did have the equivalent of frat boys."

I laughed, imaging the looks of my friends if I tried to tell them what I had seen over the last few days. "Don't you run off on me," I said sternly.

"Noelle, I promise, I'm not going to leave without you. Tell you what…" he dug in the pocket where he usually kept his sonic screwdriver and tossed me something small and silver. I grinned before I even saw exactly what it was.

"TARDIS key?" I asked, still smiling.

"Right in one. Now go on, tell some old physics professor of yours about the TARDIS and make him cry. I'll find you later on after I've got my ship sorted out." With a wave, he popped in his glasses, lowered himself below the control deck and disappeared from view.

Still with an air of disbelief, I left the ship and stepped out into the achingly familiar campus. I took a minute to absorb the scene. The red brick buildings of Brimson rose around me amidst the skeleton trees. In the summer and fall the foliage would have blocked out the chapel, which I could make out in the distance, libraries and classroom buildings from where I was standing but in the dead of winter, my view was unimpeded. A few inches of snow covered the ground and scuffs, mounds and imprints gave the telltale signs of a recent snowball fight. I was just wondering how recent when I let out a gasp as something cold and wet caught me in the right between my shoulder blades.

"Noelle!" came a familiar shout and I turned to find my friend Brit grinning at me, another snowball already in her hand. "Where on earth have you been? We missed you!"

"What do you mean?" I asked with a bit of a sinking feeling. I hadn't bothered to check exactly what day it was and, if the show was anything to go by, the Doctor could be a little… well, off in his calculations of arrival time. When you're 900 years old, a few months here and there doesn't make much of a difference but for all I knew I had just missed a full semester.

"What do you mean, what do I mean? Term started three days ago! We thought you weren't coming back!"

"Three days ago?" I said, trying to remember my school schedule and calculate the date. "Which makes it… the second of February?"

"First," she said. And then, looking vaguely impressed, "did you really forget to come back to school?"

"No! I'm…" I thought for a moment. "I'm just jet-lagged. I've been traveling."

"Well you'll have to tell us all about it but it's a Friday night and we have approximately six hours before the biggest kickoff party of the semester. We're second semester seniors, girl!" she shouted, grabbing my arm and beginning to drag me towards our dorm. With an amused sigh, I allowed myself to be led away from the TARDIS, sitting a few feet away from us, completely unnoticed.

"…and then Roger said, 'well I don't know if I want to get the job there because my girlfriend is in New York' so I said, 'if you don't have a job, you're going to get dumped by your girlfriend' and he said…." Brit was telling me some involved story about our friends and their holiday drama. I was tuning in and out, glad to let her words slowly ease me back into the ordinary world I had almost forgotten over the last few days. The campus was exactly as I remembered, although I had to keep reminding myself that I shouldn't expect it to be any different – I was the one who had traveled through time and space; my school had just sat here for a few weeks. We passed through the student center where a group of students I didn't know where holding some sort of demonstration about saving the rainforest. One of them tried to give me a flier but Brit pulled me away before I had a chance to look at it.

"Oh, don't encourage them," she said scornfully, scowling over her shoulder at the protestors who just waved at her, smiling. "They've been going crazy since everyone got back."

"What, are they some new club?" I asked.

"They're called The Coalition to Save the Earth. All about hugging trees and kissing flowers and god knows what else. It's not like they can actually do anything here. Besides; stupid time to protest, in the middle of winter. Everything's dead anyway."

I shrugged. I didn't really mind the activist groups on campus. Particularly ones to save the Earth. From what I could tell, traveling with the Doctor, as soon as Earth made interstellar contact, it was going to need all the help it could get.

We reached our dorm building and Brit led me to my room. The door was locked and my keys were on the other side of the country but I was struck by a whim and pulled out the TARDIS key. For a moment I thought I was just being silly as I tried to fit the thing into the standard earthly keyhole but it slid right in and the lock clicked pleasantly, allowing me back into my room. I hid my smile from Brit but was glad that my assumption, that anything that spent so much time around the sonic screwdriver might imbue a few of its more basic functions, proved correct.

"What's this?" I asked, noticing a box in the hallway next to my door. It had my name on it.

"Oh, I told you the Save the Earth people were crazy. They gave one to everyone. I just tossed mine out," said Brit, walking into my room and beginning to go through my drawers of clothes. I was much more interested in the strange gift. Inside the box was a potted plant with a single pink flower. It looked like an orchid but the leaves were much more rounded. The thing looked very wilted and I wasn't sure how long it had been sitting in the hallway so I put it on my desk and poured half of a bottle of water into the dirt.

"It's beautiful, that's such a nice gift. They did that for everyone? It must have cost a fortune," I said, surprised.

"They said they grew all the flowers themselves. And Professor Hartley is in charge of the club, she's that new plant bio teacher…."

"Oh yeah, I had her last semester. She's really nice. Look, you're just traumatized from that time you had a fish tank and killed eighteen goldfish in less than two weeks. Even you could take care of a plant if you just water it properly." I looked back at my own cutting, preparing to indicate the signs of a plant that was low on water but to my great surprise, the plant looked much greener and the wilted leaves had almost entirely lifted. I touched the soil and it was nearly dry again as if all the water had been sucked up immediately. With a shrug I poured the rest of the bottle of water into the pot and put the flower on my windowsill to catch the last sunrays of the day. I knew it must have been my imagination but I could have sword the plant gave off an air of smug pleasure. This is what I get for traveling with the Doctor. Personified plants.

"You," said Brit in disgust, already done with the plant issue. "Have absolutely nothing to wear."

-----

I had finally shoed Brit out of my room, begging the need to shower and rest before I joined her for the "greatest party _ever!_" as she insisted on referring to the upcoming event. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get any of these tasks accomplished, however, as I kept getting distracted by my new plant and its exceedingly un-plantlike behavior. Just after Brit had left, I went to remove it from the window, so it wouldn't get too cold, and discovered a second pink flower next to the first. When I returned from my shower, another tendril was poking its way cautiously out of the soil and as I watched, it grew steadily upwards, producing its own leaves and another flower. It was like watching a time-lapse movie. There was a loud knock on my door.

"Jeeze, Brit, you really want to get to this party. I told you I'd meet you," I called, going to open the door. To my surprised, it wasn't Brit at the door at all.

"Are we going to a party?" asked the Doctor.

"I don't know, do you want to?" I said, suddenly self-conscious about the party clothes and makeup Brit had laid out for me before she left. The Doctor didn't seem to notice.

"Well, parties _are_ fun. But we may possibly have to save the world first. Do they have a class in that?"

To stunned for words, I allowed the Doctor to grab my hand and together we raced down the hall and out into the chilly night.

"What do you mean, 'save the world'?" I demanded once I found my voice. "I thought we weren't in a parallel universe, that sort of thing doesn't happen here."

"Oh ho, wouldn't you like to think that!" said the Doctor mysteriously. I didn't push the issue. I would, in fact, like to think that. "You haven't ever had a class with a… what was it… Professor Hartley, have you?"

"Yes," I said, surprised that my former teacher's name had come up twice since I'd been back. "I had her last semester. She teaches the plant biology courses."

"Of course she does. Brilliant," laughed the Doctor.

"Honestly, we're in the middle of nowhere, at a college probably half the size of a super Walmart and it's about ten below outside right now. If someone even contemplated the insane idea of destroying the world from here, they wouldn't be able to go outside without freezing," I said, my own teeth chattering slightly. I was not dressed for the weather. The Doctor, in only his light coat, seemed not to be bothered.

We had reached the stretch of science buildings where Professor Hartley's office was located. I noticed there was a bright sunlamp on in the greenhouses but other than that, the science complex seemed deserted.

"I still don't get what I'm supposed to be seeing," I said, a bit annoyed by the whole process. The Doctor was now racing up the stairs towards the level with the greenhouses and I was trying to keep up with him rather unsuccessfully. He paused at the top of the stairs to wait for me and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Come on, come on, this you really have to see," he said.

"What, don't they have night classes in your dimension? For all you know, whatever it is might be perfectly normal here! Why can't you just say what it is that…." I trailed off as I approached the door to the greenhouses. The door was ajar and the bright sunlight from the special UV blubs was streaming into the dark hallway. For a moment I thought the light was playing tricks on my eyes, but as they adjusted, I had to accept the fact that what I was seeing was the real thing.

"What are they doing?" I whispered, hoping to remain unnoticed by the people in the greenhouse.

"Well… I'm not a botanist, but if I had to guess, I'd say they're photosynthesizing," said the Doctor casually.

In the greenhouse was the entire Coalition to Save the Earth, all seated on the wet, muddy greenhouse floor, facing Professor Hartley who was seated as well. All of them had their eyes closed. I could have almost have passed that picture off as some hippie, earth-love meditation circle but what really got me were the thick green shoots, covered in little round leaves, poking out of the top of each of their heads.

---

AN: This chapter is dedicated to Sonic Jules in the hopes that whatever caused an emergency has since become less urgent and had a safe, happy resolution. Thanks for your kind reviews and messages!

I wanted to give some warning – I will be traveling during the next week or so (most unfortunately in a 747, not a TARDIS, which promises to be much less fun, exciting, comfortable and probably just as bumpy). While I will have some time to continue writing, at least during my plane flights, I most likely won't be able to update again until Tuesday of next week. I also wanted to relieve any fears that this story is ending soon – in case you hadn't noticed, these stories are structured like television episodes, with mini story arcs making a single "episode." In case you're curious;

December 27-28: Episode 1 – Meet the Doctor  
December 29-30: Episode 2 – Human Error  
December 31-January 2: Episode 3 – Windy Moors  
January 3-4: Episode 4 – Game Theory  
February 1-???: Episode 5 – Back to School

The story is planned out through Episode 10 so there will be at least that many story arcs, broken down into 2 or 3 "entries" per episode.

Additionally, I myself am a college student at a place much like Brimson and classes start again for me next week. This means that updates will not be coming quite as quickly over the next few weeks as I settle back into my routine. Fear not! Noelle will be making her way through the universe to a fanfiction story near you with all due haste (at least as long as the Doctor can figure out what's wrong with the TARDIS). Thanks for reading, please review; you know it makes my day!


	14. The Greenhosue Effect Part II

**February 2, 2008 – Morning**

Ug, my head feels like it's absolutely going to split in two. I can barely keep my eyes open, the sun is so bright. Maybe a side effect of being a time and space traveler is that you get really, really bad hangovers. I'm clearly in my bed, in my dorm room, both of which are about as far as I've gotten in logical thoughts since I woke up and realized that I wasn't dreaming about having my brain stepped on – that's actually what it felt like. What the hell happened last night?

Alright, I have to think back logically to try to remember what happened. At least I seem to have written something down last night before I passed out… I was up in the greenhouses, that's right! Oh boy, I really hope the Doctor has some super-strength Tylenol for when I figure out what's going on….

We were staring into the room at the plant people who seemed oblivious to our presence.

"What are we going to do about it?" I whispered.

"Figure out what they're after. If they're just, you know, soaking up the rays," he said it in a terrible surfer-dude fake accent. "We can just leave them alone, they're not harming anyone."

"But they're not human!" I said in surprise.

"Who said they had to be?" said the Doctor.

Up to this point we had been unnoticed by the plant people in the greenhouse but I thought I could see their leaves starting to fold up and their eyelids flutter.

"Don't you think we'd better get out of here," I whispered.

"Why? Don't you want to find out what they're doing?" he grinned.

"I thought we established that they were photosynthesizing," I hissed, glancing nervously into the room. All of a sudden I heard footsteps on the stairs and the Doctor and I both turned to see Brit appear in the hallway.

"Noelle, I thought I saw you running up here! What are you _doing_?" She caught sight of the Doctor and her face broke into a wicked smile. "And _who_ is this?"

The noise had attracted the attention of the occupants of the greenhouse. The students had all filed into the hallway and Professor Hartley, normally a mild mannered woman, was coming towards us rather angrily.

"Can I help you with something," she demanded, sounding slightly out of breath. "We're having a club event."

"Ohh well we were interested in your club; saving the earth and all of that," the Doctor started but Brit cut him off with a squeal.

"And he's _British_!" There was a moment's pause while everyone tried to get back on track.

"Am not," he muttered but only I heard him.

"Professor Hartley, Noelle's just avoiding a party I'm trying to take her too. She probably thought needing to talk to a teacher because she missed the first few classes was a good excuse but it's _so_ not. Hope you guys are having a good party! Yay saving the earth!" With that, she grabbed the Doctor and my arms and directed us towards the stairway.

"I… hang on!" cried the Doctor in surprise, completely thrown off. "Questions… plant… who the hell are you?"

"Oh that's nice," she quipped even as she directed us into the stairwell with the shocked members of the Coalition to Save the Earth looking on. "God know what you two were doing that I, her bestest friend _ever_ didn't even come up once." Brit looked less annoyed that I hadn't mentioned her to the Doctor than that I hadn't mentioned him to her. I was pretty sure I was going to get an earful about just that.

"Isn't this _perfect_?" she was saying despite the Doctor's stuttering. "I'm Brit and he's a Brit!" I could tell she'd already had a few drinks.

"I'm not a Brit," said the Doctor, finally managing to squeeze in a complete sentence over Brit's excited ramblings.

"What's that supposed to mean, it's a kind of obvious accent," she laughed, nearly toppling down the stairs as she tried to turn to face the Doctor even while holding tightly onto my arm. I caught her as she fell forward, shooting an apologetic look at the Doctor.

"Lots of places have accents," he said. We left the building but the Doctor was still craning his neck trying to get a look up into the greenhouses. I could tell he was upset about having missed the opportunity to learn more about the strange plant people.

"Noelle, tell your boyfriend to hurry up," Brit laughed, almost falling into a snow bank.

"He's not my boyfriend," I said quickly.

"Ooh, your bad luck then," she said, clambering up and turning to eye the Doctor.

"Brit, he's kind of spoken for." Even under the influence of whatever she had been drinking earlier that evening, she could hear the glum tone of my voice.

"It's your last semester of college," she said, her evil grin returning. "Everybody makes mistakes." I was about to ask her what she meant when the Doctor, having determined that there was nothing more to see from the greenhouses had caught up with us.

"Alright, Miss Brit, best friend _ever_ of Noelle Kelley," he said with an enthusiasm I found unnerving. "Let's see this spectacular party of yours." He grabbed my hand and strode forward.

"Oh lord," I said to him under my breath. "Please, don't tell me you've got…"

"Oh yes," he said, cutting me off. "I totally have a banana."

----

"Noelle, you can travel everywhere in the universe, through all of time and space, and you will never find a beast quite like an American college party," said the Doctor happily as we stepped into the dimly lit room. Someone pressed a red plastic cup into my hands and I was about to take a sip but nearly spilled the contents of the cup all over myself when the Doctor placed his hand over my mouth.

"What was that?" I spluttered.

"You were just going to drink that, were you?" he demanded.

"Well, yeah. You've got one too," I laughed.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to take drinks from strangers? Who knows what's in that." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and shone it into the dark liquid. Nothing happened. "Alright," he said, relaxing. "It's fine."

"How chivalrous," I said with a smile. He just grinned and scanned his own drink before downing it in one gulp. I tasted mine with a bit more caution - it was some horrible cocktail mix of cheap liquors and the Doctor and I both made faces at each other. Both admiring and jealous of his ability to throw back the alcohol, I attempted the same thing, nearly choking as I swallowed.

"Oi! Don't try to match the Time Lord drink for drink – your human physiology couldn't keep up with it and I have a strictly no-sick rule on the TARDIS."

"Is that a fact?" I teased, already beginning to feel warm and a bit silly in the overwhelming noise and crowd packed into the apartment. "I'll bet I could drink you under the table."

"I _could_ take that bet… but it would be completely irresponsible of me and dangerous for you."

There was a long pause.

"Alright, where're the shot glasses," I said just as he conceded, "the minute I say stop, we're done."

Someone else in the room caught the air of our contest and started shouting, "drink for drink! Clear a table!" In moments, I found myself sitting across from the Doctor with a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and two glasses between us.

"Time Lord physiology my…" I started.

"Ask someone to pour the first drinks," he cut in.

"Ooh, going to do this right, then? Brit!" My friend had been eyeing us suspiciously through the preparation and came over to the table.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? You've never been a big drinker…" she worried, which almost shocked me back into rational thinking – when Brit was worried at a party, usually something was incredibly wrong. But, on the other hand, worrying was usually my job and maybe she was just stepping in to fill the void. I was having _fun_.

"Just pour 'em."

Alright, so about there is when things started to go a bit hazy. Some part of me knew that I was being ridiculous, but that part of me shut up quickly when the Doctor would slam down his empty shot glass, raise his eyebrows and eye me with that look that clearly said, "what? That's it, then?" Suddenly two thirds of the bottle was gone. I realized with some detachment that the cheering crowd around us was for me as the Doctor, with a ridiculous bow, conceded to me before, as I seem to remember him saying, I caused serious bodily injury. But something clearly happened between then and now….

The Doctor held out his arms and I raised myself from the seat, wavering slightly, and just about fell into him as he laughed and hugged me.

"Not bad, Noelle Kelley, not bad at all."

He led me to a circle of chairs near a window and sat me down, check me to make sure I wasn't too out of it. I honestly wasn't feeling that bad, definitely not as if I had just matched the Doctor in a drinking contest. The corner was mostly empty except for a pair of young men who were looking quite apprehensive at their surroundings and talking instead about their school work.

"Pardon me, don't mean to interrupt," said the Doctor to the boys after making sure I was seated comfortably. "But did you say you're doing your honors thesis on particle physics?" From behind him I chuckled.

"Uh, yeah… you know much about it?" said one of the young men who I vaguely recognized as having been in one of my classes the year before.

"Oh… a bit," the Doctor said modestly.

"Well whatever, I'm a stuck on my research and I've gone over my notes a million times and it just doesn't make sense, I'm getting all these weird readings that don't have anything to do with my experiment…" he trailed off looking searchingly into the crowd of people dancing and drinking on the other side of the room. "This is exactly what my girlfriend told me _not_ to start talking about at the party."

"Is it now. Well… I'd be happy to take a look at these notes of yours… Noelle, d'you mind if I…"

"Not at all Doctor," I smiled, feeling no desire to move any time soon.

"Really? I mean… that is… do you really think you can help? I live just down the hall, you could come see and then come back in no time at all." The boy was stumbling over his words, he was so thrilled.

"Noelle, I'll be back in ten minutes," he said sternly. "Don't move, don't wander off, don't leave with anyone, and please… don't be sick." Even through my drunken haze I could see the two boys exchange glances at the Doctor's estimated time of return – knowing the Doctor, he was overestimating and could have figured out their problem in five minutes.

I watched him walk away from me, deep in discussion with the physics students. I wasn't sure how long I sat there by myself before realizing that Brit had taken the chair next to me and was talking.

"…and Noelle, it's completely obvious," she was saying.

"Huh?" I said, rather inarticulately. "What's obvious? I'm not that drunk!"

She laughed. "Liar, well, yeah, that's obvious too. But what I meant was this friend of yours. It's obvious you're totally into him."

"I'm not!" I said, a flush rising to my face that had nothing to do with the alcohol.

"Noelle, I've known you for four years and you have never looked at a guy that way before. What is it? Who is he? I don't even know his name!"

"He's the Doctor," I sighed.

"He's your doctor? Um… aren't there laws about that sort of thing?" she said.

"No, no, that's his name. That's what he's called. He's the Doctor. I don't know. Go find a sci-fi geek to explain it to you."

"You're the only sci-fi geek I know," she laughed. "And what does that have anything to do with it? Anyway, I see the way you look at him and that's what's important. So what did you mean, he's spoken for? He's not married is he?" she said quickly.

"He might as well be," I said. "He had this friend… this girl who he traveled with… and she was just perfect for him. They had all these adventures together and she was smart and fun and he was lonely and she made him feel like he had a family…." I trailed off because Brit was staring at me like I was crazy.

"What are you talking about? You sure know a lot about his love life."

"You could say that," I said, thinking to the countless hours I had spent watching the TV show.

"Well, I don't care if he's got a fairy-tale romance with this traveler friend of his. I don't see her here. Why don't you just tell him how you feel? The worst thing that happens is he says, sorry, don't feel the same."

"You don't understand!" I cried. "You have no idea Brit, and that's not the worst thing that could happen. The worst thing that could happen is that he'd leave me here and for the rest of my life, I'd always wonder if I'd gone crazy of if I'd really met him!"

"You know what I think, Noe," I looked at her, hoping she had some secret answer. "I think you're crazy no matter what." She smiled sweetly and I rolled my eyes. "But Noelle, seriously. Just tell him how you feel. That's what you'd really regret not doing."

She helped me from my chair and upon finding myself standing I stumbled slightly. Brit laughed and added, "oh, and he must like you too, at least a little!"

"What makes you say that?" I asked, my head swimming.

"Because he drank about two out of every three of your drinks," she said and with a small shove, pushed me towards the door of the crowded room.

I found my way out into the hallway and for a moment I thought that the party had spilled out into the hall because there were so many people standing around. It took me a minute to realize that they all were holding paper and pens and were scribbling frantically, staring at something at the other end of the hall. With a sinking feeling, I pushed my way through the crowd and found the Doctor, cheerfully addressing the crowd and writing some sort of complex equation in sharpie marker directly on the wall.

"What are you _doing_?" I cried, desperately hoping that he wasn't changing the course of earth science and math with whatever he was showing everyone.

"And this is my lovely assistant Noelle," he said to the students. "Say hello to everyone Noelle!"

"Goodbye," I called, taking the sharpie from the Doctor and walking him towards the building's exit. "Show's over!"

"Hey! I was just getting to the good bit where you can actually _decrease _the entropy of the universe," said the Doctor in surprise, suddenly finding himself outside. I let the cool night air wash over me and suddenly, without thinking, I kissed him full on the mouth.

For a split second I felt him return the kiss but then his eyes widened in surprise and he pulled away, looking at me worriedly.

"Noelle…"

"Look, I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking," I muttered, embarrassed.

"Ohh, no harm then!" said the Doctor, looking relieved that I wasn't pushing the issue.

"It's just that…" I started but he cut me off, gently but firmly.

"Noelle, you, maybe better than anyone else, can understand how important Rose was… is to me. I'm not looking for anyone to be her replacement. If you travel with me, you have to be able to accept that."

Almost without thinking, I took the TARDIS key out of my pocket and stared at it, sitting assumingly in the palm of my hand. The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise and for a moment I wondered if I really could even consider giving it back to him, giving back the life I had just begun to experience in order to save myself from any pain in the future. The moonlight shone off the silver key in my hand. With a sigh, I put it back in my pocket and the Doctor smiled, holding out his arms to give me a hug.

"You never should have let me challenge you to a drinking contest," I said ruefully. "I do stupid things when I'm drunk."

"Oh, you'll pay for it in the morning," he said warningly. "That'll be a better lesson than anything else."

"Who are you, my dad?" I said, laughing, the tension between us fading.

"Your dad would let you challenge him to a drinking contest? I doubt that."

I laughed, even as I felt the haze of the alcohol overtake my mind.

"I should probably get back to my room," I said and the Doctor nodded and we started back to my own dorm.

So… was that it? That's what happened last night, I guess… and this is the lesson the Doctor was talking about, that's for sure. It's just, I can't shake this feeling that there was something else….

We got back to my building and were halfway down the hall when there was a blinding flash of light and suddenly the building was filled with screams.

Oh. My god. I have got to find the Doctor… I remember what happened!

---

AN: So I lied, I got a chapter up earlier than planned. I apologize if this one sounds a little rushed or has more typos than normal – I was stuck in a layover at the Houston airport for four hours waiting to get my flight into NYC. Ew. In any case, I'm still traveling and definitely won't have time to update again until Wednesday at the earliest (so much for keeping the date on track! ) Anyway, sorry for the fluff, but it would have been slightly unrealistic not to have it mentioned at all! Read and review… I love to hear from you!


	15. The Greenhouse Effect Part III

**February 2, 2008 – Evening**

It was just after midnight when the brilliant light flashed through the whole campus. For a moment, in my hazy and more than tipsy condition, I thought it was someone taking a picture and I stood, smiling blindly, until I realized that there were screams coming from all over the school.

"Doctor…" I called, reaching out and still blinking spots out of my eyes. He had left my side and I heard the sound of a door being opened.

"Noelle, just stay where you are! Woah…" he trailed off and my eyes finally adjusted to see him staring intently into one of the darkened dormitory bedrooms. "Now that… that is one for the horticulture class," he said, nodding appreciatively. I stumbled forward and peered over his shoulder where I was met with a horrific sight. The student had clearly kept the potted plant with the pink flowers from the Coalition to Save the Earth club but it had grown over a hundred times its size, taking over the entire room. The student was sitting bolt upright in bed, a small underclassman girl I didn't recognize, her frizzy brown hair sticking out in all directions. Like the students I had witnessed in the greenhouse, her eyes were closed and her legs were crossed but instead of a plant structure protruding from her head, one of the vines from the main stalk of the flowering cutting had grown directly into her head, entering her body at the base of her neck. I gaped at the scene, trying to deal with the image.

"That is so not photosanitizing," I tried then giggled at my mistake. "I mean, plantaphotosizing. Er… photoplanta…"

"Noelle, don't do that," the Doctor said under his breath. I was still slurring my words, trying to find the right one and so didn't notice right away that one of the pink flowers, the ones that had looked so small and friendly when I first received the potted plant but were now the size of a small desk, was swiveling towards us, almost as if it were looking at the Doctor and me.

"Photostabalizing…?" I tried again.

"No, really, don't," said the Doctor, grabbing my arm. I looked up to see the pink flower almost directly in front of us and I stared at it dumbly even as the Doctor dragged me back into the hallway.

"What was that?" I asked as he slammed the door as another vine started to reach towards the place we had just been standing. "I think I've got one of those," I continued in a dazed voice, then fell over.

"Oi, Noelle, this is really bad timing. Come on then, up you get." He helped me to my feet and I nearly fell over again. The doors along the hall were bursting open as the plants, which were growing bigger by the second, came spilling out into the hallway. I screamed and backed away but the plants didn't seem to be interested in me. Instead, the students began to file out of each dorm room, no longer directly attached to the plants by vines, but with tendrils of the plants growing in and out of their heads and around their necks. They walked out of the building, stoic as zombies. The Doctor rushed past me to the window and stared out at the snow-covered grounds of the campus.

"Ohh, that's just cool! Incredibly dangerous, but very, very cool." I tried to focus outside and saw students pouring out of every building on campus, coming together to form a line that headed straight for the central building on campus; the library. As I watched, I wondered if perhaps someone had slipped something in my drink and I was imaging things. All of the students, despite the cold, despite the giant stone building looming in front of them and despite their limited human strength, began to pull the building apart, stone by stone.

"Doctor, they're tearing the school down!" I yelled. The plants still in the dorm seemed to be unresponsive now, as if all their energy was directed towards controlling the students outside.

"Alright, first things first," said the Doctor, looking at me. "You are going to drink a huge bottle of water and you're going to bed."

"I can't go to bed! I'm not even that drunk. There are _plant people_ that are _tearing down the school_ and you expect me to _go to bed_?" I was waving my hands wildly to illustrate my point.

"Yes," said the Doctor firmly. "Bed." And with that, he picked me up, unceremoniously putting me over his shoulder and carried me back to my dorm room, tossing me gently onto my bed. Perhaps because the room had been empty when the attack began, my own plant was still relatively small but it perked up immediately when we entered the room.

"I'll be taking this," said the Doctor, grabbing the plant and shoving the whole thing, pot and all, in his coat pocket.

"But the plant things are going to get me," I mumbled, already beginning to doze off.

"Not if I can help it," the Doctor said. He quickly ran his sonic screwdriver around the perimeter of my window and on my door keyhole. "You should be fine."

"Unless they pull my building down," I yawned, almost gone.

"Trust a college student to be drunk when the you're being attacked by people from another planet," he said but there was no malice in his voice.

"Good luck," I said quietly, but he was already gone.

-------

Waking up the morning after was one of the most disorienting experiences of my life, right up there with the first time I stepped into the TARDIS. Of course as soon as I had figured out what had happened, I stared out the window into the brilliant sunlight to find half the campus destroyed and the plant-possessed students hard at work at taking down the dining hall across the quad. So much for a big fried breakfast to help get over the night before. Although my classmates were working just as quickly, removing huge chunks of rock and brick and plaster as if they were Styrofoam, I couldn't help but notice that their bodied had turned nearly white from the cold. Clearly whatever was controlling them didn't seem too concerned for their well-being.

Grabbing a jacket, I raced out of the building and clearly not a moment too soon – as soon as I got outside, I realized that there was a group of students hard at work on dismantling my own dormitory. Through a halo of plant vines, I recognized Brit as one of the workers.

"Guess you were smart to throw out that plant after all," I sighed, taking a moment to watch her. She didn't even acknowledge my presence. "Too bad you never empty your garbage can." I ducked out of the way of falling debris as the building creaked threateningly.

Without looking back, I took off at a run to the greenhouse in the science building; one of the few buildings that hadn't yet been renovated by the plant people demolition team, quite sure that was where I would find, if not the Doctor, at least the source of everything odd that was going on. I took the stairs two at a time and nearly threw myself into the greenhouse when I heard voices inside and thought better of my abrupt entry. Sliding to a halt, I crouched outside the partially open door, mentally breathing a sigh of relief as I heard the Doctor's distinctive voice from within.

"And what was the point of taking over some tiny school in the middle of nowhere?" he asked someone.

"This is just a first step," came the reply and I recognized Professor Hartley's voice.

"Oh, that's your plan is it? Today the college, tomorrow the world?" mocked the Doctor.

"Change starts with learning, don't you agree Doctor?"

"And what are you _teaching_ these students? First hand effects of frostbite?"

"How can you just watch them?" Professor Hartley asked, her voice suddenly low and dangerous. "How can you see these humans destroying the planet they've inhabited, each day cutting more of it down, slicing it away until soon there will be nothing but rock and dirt left behind?"

"They're humans! They've barely evolved opposable thumbs, let alone realized the capacity to acknowledge what they're doing to their own planet. But humans are stronger than you think and the minute they realize what you're up to, they're going to stop you."

"Like you, Doctor?" laughed Professor Hartley and I dared a peek into the greenhouse. The Doctor was wrapped tightly in vines, unable to move. "What _is it_ you see in these people anyway?"

"Potential," he spat. "And you know it too. They nearly found you out – just a pair of undergraduate college physics students. I saw their readings, they were picking up your signals that you were sending out to the plants, encouraging their growth, keeping them connected to the mothership as it were. Oh, they thought they were errors in their scans but they would have figured it out soon enough."

"We did have to move our plans forward more quickly than originally anticipated," Professor Hartley said grudgingly. "But that just goes to show that they are intelligent enough to understand our technology therefore they are intelligent enough to pay for the crimes they should have known better than commit."

"And who are you to carry out a sentence?" shouted the Doctor.

"We are the U.E.C."

"The U.E.C.?" demanded the Doctor. "The Universal Environmental Coalition? That was disbanded years ago! Decades! Article 27 of the Shadow Proclamation eliminated that group entirely!"

"Shadow Proclamation," snorted the Professor. "As if that could end our mission, our mission to protect the planets of this universe from their very inhabitants who seek to destroy them."

"You can't kill an entire race of people because you feel they've done a bad job with the housekeeping! Now I'll admit that they've got a lot of work to do to get this planet's ecosystem back on track but you've got to let them do it themselves!"

"Who said anything about killing them?" said Professor Hartley. "Once we've take their minds, and given them the strength to tear down all of their own buildings, power lines, oil rigs, drilling platforms… and wait for the natural system to return to a balanced state, we will coordinate their return to dominance along a more eco-friendly timeline."

"Coordinate return to dominance, what does that even _mean_?" said the Doctor. "I'm sorry, but I can't let that happen. I'm warning you, leave these humans alone. Go find some fixer-upper that's uninhabited or _quit the Coalition_ like you were _supposed_to do thirty years ago!"

"Doctor, I saw no reason to hurt you; you're not a human, there's no reason you should be involved in this mess. But if you're going to persist with this nonsense I'm going to have to have you removed. Goodbye Doctor."

"No!" I shouted, running into the greenhouse where the vine-wrapped Doctor was being lifted away. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm pretty sure she meant physically removed from the room, not actually killed. But nice to see such concern. You might want to think about running away now," he said. He spoke calmly but I could see in his eyes that he was worried. I turned quickly back to the door but a thick vine had already blocked my path.

"Human," hissed Professor Hartley, eyeing me angrily. "How did you escape my vines? They broke into every room, every place on this campus."

"The name's Noelle," I said, annoyed. "I was in your class last semester."

"No matter," she continued, ignoring me completely. "We can certainly use the help of another student in undoing this terrible civilization."

Unable to go through the door, I stepped backwards, away from the vines that were creeping rapidly towards me and into a side room attached to the greenhouse full of pots, potting soil and fertilizers.

"Doctor!" I called, nervously as the vines grew closer still.

"I'm a bit indisposed at the moment," he called back, struggling against the plant that held him captive. A branch of the plant shot out at my head and I screamed, ducking backwards and falling against a cupboard full of garden supplies which burst open, showering me with soil, fertilizer, spades and plastic spray bottles full of brightly colored liquids. One of the bottles burst open at my feet, covering me in a chemical-smelling substance. I closed my eyes as the plant descended on me but to my great surprise, nothing happened. Tentatively, I opened my eyes to see the vine recoiling away from me. I wiped the liquid out of my eyes and grabbed the spray bottle, looking at the label: Professional Grade Herbicide.

"Doctor, close your eyes!" I shouted and grabbed the two remaining spray bottles. I charged into the room, the vines and flowers wilting as I pushed my way through towards the Doctor. I pulled the top off of one of the bottles of herbicide and launched it into the center of the writhing mass of plant life where the Doctor had disappeared. In seconds, the plant collapsed in on itself, shriveling before my eyes. Shaking the remaining thin plant tendrils off of himself, the Doctor strode out of the dying plant to stand next to me.

"No! It hurts!" shouted Professor Hartley, her pain audible in her voice. "You can't do this, don't you see? You're condemning this earth to total destruction! These people will kill everything around them and then themselves. We could have stopped them and you're killing me!"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," said the Doctor, reaching his hand out to Professor Hartley. "That plant was a part of you, wasn't it?"

"All of the plants are a part of me," she said, and as she spoke, I could see her human form melt away and in its place was a green nest of vines and flowers and branches, all moving and growing constantly. This was her true form, a conscious plant.

"And there is no U.E.C. anymore, is there?" asked the Doctor.

"The U.E.C. may be gone but its most loyal members are not. We may be few, spread out across the universe, but nothing will stop us from protecting this universe while there are still those who seek to destroy it. And I will not die in vain!"

"You're not going to die," I said, worriedly. "The Doctor can help you, can't you Doctor?"

"No one can help me now and if I am to fail my mission, I will take as many of the humans with me as I can!" There was another flash of light from within the very center of the plant being that used to be Professor Hartley and instantly the campus was filled with excruciating screams from the possessed students and members of the college.

"What's happening to them?" I yelled over the noise.

"She's squeezing their brains. They all have plants in their heads, she's trying to kill as many humans as she can," shouted the Doctor.

Without thinking, I held up the spray bottle and squirted the herbicide directly into the glowing center of the plant person. It screamed, its sound joining that of the students outside and then, suddenly, all of the noise stopped. The plant being collapsed into a wilted brown mass on the floor, lost amid the rest of the dead plant debris.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant Noelle," grinned the Doctor. His grin faded as he stepped to the window and gazed out at the Brimson campus. I put my hand to my mouth.

"She didn't kill them, did she?" I asked quietly.

"No, I don't think so," said the Doctor. "But they do still have a head full of plants. With no consciousness to direct them, they're just sitting there, waiting for some sort of command."

"How do we get the plants to leave them?"

"Let me think… plants, plants… like sunlight, water, don't like herbicide… how much of that is left, by the way?"

I held up the nearly empty bottle.

"Alright, so that's not going to be helpful…" he trailed off, lost in thought. I stared out at the ruined campus and the freezing students standing amidst the destroyed buildings. Suddenly the Doctor grinned.

"Yes! Of course, why didn't I think of it before?" he cried, leaping towards the door.

"What? What is it?"

"Salt!" he declared.

"Salt?"

"Yes, salt. You know how you have to drink lots of water when you drink a lot of alcohol because your body is losing water trying to balance out the amount of alcohol in your system?"

"Yes…" I said, not really seeing what this had to do with anything. "It's osmosis. Water will move from a low concentration gradient to a high concentration gradient if it can. Pretty basic biology."

"Ah, don't you just _love_ pretty basic biology!" smiled the Doctor. By this point we were racing down the stairs not towards the central quad where many of the students were standing, but towards the ruins of the kitchens and dining hall. "It's the exact same thing with plants and salt."

"So you're going to give the plants a hangover?" I asked, confused.

"Basically," he agreed. "If we can get the students into a super salty solution, the plants will start to lose water like crazy. Won't happen to you because you've got this lovely protective skin. And ordinary plant would just shrivel up and die but these aren't ordinary plants, they'll leave the host that's killing them, they'll just try to get out of the water, even if it means leaving their host body."

"But how are we going to get a big enough salty solution?"

We had reached what remained of the kitchen and with a delighted look, the Doctor lifted a slab of rock to reveal three industrial sized barrels of table salt.

"Doesn't this school have a swimming pool?"

------

The most difficult part, as it turned out, was getting all of the students into the salt water pool that we created in the gym. But with the help of a few sun-lamps and some tricky mirror placement, the Doctor at last managed to get the group moving. Aside from a few cases of frostbite and some pretty nasty headaches, everyone who had been possessed by the plants seemed to recover quickly after the vines withdrew. The greatest shock for everyone was realizing the total destruction of the school in less than a day.

"The U.E.C. really did think they were saving the environment of the universe," the Doctor explained once he was sure all of the plant bits had been removed from their student hosts and composted. "They just had a few radical members, like your Professor Hartley, who thought that they needed to purge planets of the life forms that were ruining the environment."

"I mean, maybe they have a point to some degree," I admitted, feeling much more willing to agree to the plant's point now that it had been destroyed. "But there _are_ people who are working towards saving the environment. It's just got a long way to go."

The Doctor stared off into space, I wasn't even sure if he had heard me.

"Rose and I met a tree once. She was a nice tree. I wonder if the plants would have liked Rose. 'Cause of her name, see? Rose."

I sighed.

"I don't think they would have liked any people very much," I said, rousing him from his musings. "And Doctor… I just wanted to say, about last night… I'm sorry."

"Ahh, that's quite alright," he said, putting an arm around my shoulder. "You were just a bit dehydrated." I gave a small smile.

"Well, I say we'd better get out of here before someone blames me for destroying the school. You know I had that same problem in Jerico." I wondered if he was joking.

I paused to survey my school, the place where I had spent over three years – three of the happiest years of my life. Somehow, standing beside the Doctor, I didn't feel quite the loss I expected. He held out his hand and I took it, turning away from the ruined Brimson college and back towards the TARDIS.

"Wait! Noelle!" I turned and saw Brit running towards us. "So that's it? You're really leaving to travel now?"

"Yeah, Brit, I have to. Besides, what would I do here?" I gestured around at the mess.

"So… did everything work out last night?" she asked, winking towards the Doctor.

"Yes," I smiled. "In fact, I think it did. And I've got to say, I'm lucky I've got such a great friend."

The Doctor grinned and left me to say goodbye to Brit privately. I hugged her tightly.

"I promise, I'll see you again, and probably sooner for you than for me."

"I don't even know what that means, but I always said you were crazy," she laughed. "You'd better write!"

"Well, I'll see what I can do," I said, smiling. "But what ever else, I promise I'll be keeping a journal."

-----

AN: Sorry for taking so long to get this guy up! I've been doing a lot of traveling myself and now I'm back at school. No killer plant people, though. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please read and review! As a teaser, the next story arc is called "One Giant Leap," part one of which will be up within the week. Thanks!


	16. One Giant Leap Part I

**February 3, 2008**

"So did you ever figure out what was wrong with the TARDIS?" I asked. I was lounging in the TARDIS control area, my feet up on the control deck, watching the Doctor mess around with the switches and levers.

"Like I said, it wasn't my ship causing the problems. 'Course, took me about two hours to determine for sure it wasn't my ship… but it certainly wasn't my ship."

"But what does that mean? You said we got… what was it? Thrown back out of the other dimension. What could do that?"

"Excellent question and one I would very much like to find an answer too," he grinned and then quoted. "Space is out of joint; O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!"

"Hamlet? Well the quote is 'time is out of joint,' not 'space,'" I laughed.

"Oh you know your Shakespeare! And both are equally appropriate for me. Will wrote it in _about _me, in fact. But it's true though. Space is out of joint, I just don't understand this massive energy influx. Something that can disrupt the TARDIS, power the interdimensional transport of the Daleks… mess up the time vortex… it's impossible!"

"Good thing you enjoy impossible so much," I said with a smile.

"Right you are Noelle Kelley. But all the same, I think we should poke around a bit, try to figure out what exactly is causing this energy overload. Whatever it is, it's certainly going to be attracting quite a bit of attention soon, I wouldn't mind getting there first."

"So how does one 'poke around' a giant, invisible, impossible energy source?" I asked.

"Well, I've been thinking, we've been affected just about every time we've move about in the TARDIS, if I can just figure out how much we're affected _by_ from a couple of different coordinates in space and time, then I can calculate the location of whatever is releasing all of this energy."

"Alright, that sounds simple enough."

"So where do you want to go?"

"I thought we were calculating," I said, surprised.

"Well, we are. I just need to make a couple of trips and measure how far off we are so no reason we can't do a little bit of sightseeing along the way."

"Oh excellent! Okay… let me think then…" With every trip I took with the Doctor, it seemed as if more possibilities for time and space travel were open before us. "Do you remember," I said with a laugh. "The first time you asked me where I wanted to go, I said the moon! Seems kind of silly now."

"Ohh the _moon_! Why didn't I think of it before, that's brilliant!" The Doctor was suddenly leaping around the control deck, spinning a round knob. "Noelle, you're going to love this."

"What are you talking about, I thought you said the moon was boring!"

"Of course, but you reminded me. I might think the moon is boring but humans… nah, humans think it's the next frontier, the finish line, the giant leap!"

"Doctor…" I said slowly, starting to get an idea of what he meant. "Do you mean we're going to…"

"1969, height of the space race. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, US Apollo shuttle 11! We're not going to the moon Noelle Kelley, oh no. But we're going to watch the first people to do so! Well, first humans to do so. Well, first humans to do so of their own power. Brilliant!"

"No way!" I laughed, thrilled with the idea of seeing one of my favorite historical events.

"Oh yes way. Pop on over to Cape Canaveral, watch a shuttle launch, drink some champagne… then do it again until I can figure out where this source of this energy."

"Finally," I said with a smile. "A quick trip to a cool historical event that isn't going to put us in life threatening danger."

"Noelle!" wailed the Doctor. "Did you have to say that? Go… knock on wood or something. That's like saying 'nothing can possibly go wrong now'."

"But honestly, it was one of the biggest events of the century, I think we would have heard about something happening that day of the launch," I said.

"I suppose that's true. Alright, I've got the coordinates set, hold on Noelle, here we go!"

The TARDIS shuddered to life, the central pillar of light rising and falling as I felt the tingle through my shoes that told me the ship was moving once again. With a jolt that nearly launched me off of my feet, we landed presumably in 1969. The Doctor and I glanced at each other.

"Alright, we can't be that far off, let me just do some quick calculations here in the TARDIS."

I nodded and stepped out of the TARDIS to see where we had ended up. To my complete surprise, I found myself in a very narrow corridor.

"Doctor!" I called through the door. "I think you landed us inside mission control."

"You might be right," came his reply, muffled through the door of the TARDIS. "We should only be off by half a mile or so from my intended landing site." The door opened and he stepped out to join me. The space had become very cramped in the tiny hall and I moved to the metallic door that I figured must lead out.

"It seems the TARDIS isn't nearly as affected on short jumps," said the Doctor cheerfully. "And where better to see the shuttle launch than from inside mission control. Come on, let's find whoever's in charge here."

I tried the door which fell open easily and had half stepped out of our landing site before nearly falling forward with a shout. The Doctor threw an arm over my shoulder, holding me in the door frame and as I regained my balance, I looked down at where I had expected to find a floor only to discover empty air.

"Doctor…" I started nervously, looking down at the sheer drop below the door I had just opened. I glanced back at the door and noticed something I hadn't bothered to consider before: the door had opened downwards instead of sideways. In fact, everything seemed to be on its side from the fire extinguisher attached to the wall to the exit sign next to the door. Almost exactly like a long, metallic space shuttle sitting vertically on a launch pad. Without any warning, there was a deafening noise and entire structure where we were standing began to vibrate violently.

"Doctor, please tell me this doesn't mean what I think it means!" I screamed over the noise.

"Get back in the TARDIS!" he shouted back as the sound increased. There was an explosion of some sort under our feet and I was nearly thrown out of the open door into the empty space below. The Doctor grabbed my hand, practically pulling me through the air towards the TARDIS, yanking open the door. The shaking room caused us to fall into the TARDIS into a heap on the floor.

"Well Noelle, you did say you wanted to go to the moon, didn't you?" said the Doctor. "Now hang on!"

"Are you serious? We're _inside a space shuttle_!" I cried.

"Well, at least we know we're in the right place," he pointed out. The shaking increased and I thought I would be thrown out of my own skin as I was thrown across the floor of the TARDIS. With a scream I slid across the floor into the control deck and everything went black.

----

"Noelle. Noelle!"

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling a bit like I'd been hit by a truck. My whole body was aching. I groaned and tried to focus on the hazy scene around me. For a moment I thought there was something wrong with my vision, then I figured out that the air inside the TARDIS was full of dust and debris that had been shaken loose during the launch. It was another minute before I realized that the Doctor was kneeling over me, a look of intense concern on his face. He looked so upset that I briefly forgot my pounding head and feel sorry for making him worry.

"Hi," I said simply.

"Hullo," he replied, the worry draining from his face. "You had a bit of a rough trip there."

"What happened?"

"We seem to have hitched a ride," he said, helping me to my feet. I stood shakily, holding onto the TARDIS control deck for support. "You were out for a few hours; I was starting to get worried. We've been in orbit for a while now."

"You mean we're still on the space shuttle? We didn't leave in the TARDIS?"

"Well, I could have but I couldn't get to the controls during the launch and it didn't seem like a good idea to jump again with you unconscious. Besides," he said, a hint of a grin playing around the corners of his mouth. "We did come all this way, it would be a shame to jump ship mid-flight."

I laughed, then winced as another pang shot through my head.

"Yeah, sounds great, maybe they've got something for my head on this thing."

"Oh, come on, they don't call me the Doctor for nothing!" he said and rummaged in his pocked, pulling out a small pill box which he handed to me.

"What are these?" I asked, opening the box to discover it was full of small green capsules.

"Well, technically they are a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory coagulate matter."

I rolled my eyes. "Which means?"

"They're Advil gel caps," he shrugged. I swallowed two of the pills and gingerly stepped away from the TARDIS deck.

"What an exciting day for mankind!" the Doctor said as we stepped back out into the narrow corridor we had seen before. This time, things were righted and it was the TARDIS that was lying on its side. "Successful manned shuttle launch sending humans to take their first steps on the moon. Absolutely brilliant!"

We had made our way from the storage space in which we landed to the main body of the ship. It was a fairly narrow corridor with numerous doors and storage spaces leading off of the main hall.

"Now, the funny thing is," the Doctor was saying. "The whole 'Americans landing on the moon' thing was really just a political move, not driven by science at all. Kennedy went on record as saying that the Americans would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade – that's the 60's – and so of course he did everything in his power to follow through. Would look a bit rubbish if they didn't make it. The real question then, is how did they do it? By the mid-60s, the Russians had nearly twice as many hours of space time, the Americans were all tied up with the Vietnam war which was in full swing, Kennedy is assassinated... things weren't going too well at home, that's for sure."

"What about all the Apollo missions before this one? This is 11 right, plenty of time to get things working correctly," I said.

"Well that's the thing. None of them were particularly successful until Apollo 10. Then all of a sudden, it's right up next to the moon. Literally within spitting distance. Everyone realizes they've got a chance and they'd better take it so not even two months later, up goes the Apollo 11 on its way to the first moon landing. Oi, what's this then?"

The Doctor was peering at a door at the end of the hall. It was the first door we had found that didn't open immediately.

"Careful," I said nervously. "Don't want to accidently launch us into space… I really don't think my head could take that."

"Nah, this doesn't go out, we're too far in. Wonder what's locked in here." He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and a second later the door popped open.

"Oh. So that's what's in here," said the Doctor in surprise.

"Oh my god.…what the _hell_ are you doing here?" came a strange voice. I joined the Doctor in the doorway and saw the source; one of three men sitting in a ridiculously complex control room, all staring at us in abject shock.

"Lord, there's two of them! That's just a kid," said one of the men.

"I am not just a kid," I said, annoyed. The Doctor elbowed me.

"Nothing to worry about… don't mind us," he said breezily. "Just a routine maintenance check… everything in order?"

"Something must be going wrong with the oxygen Mike," the first man said. "We're hallucinating."

"You can't all be hallucinating the same thing," I pointed out.

"I'm the Doctor and this is Noelle Kelley. Honestly, we're just hitching a lift. We'll stay out of your way," he said calmly. The color was rising in the faces of the three men before us and I wondered if perhaps there was a better way to explain what we had done other than "hitching a lift."

"You can't just _hitch a lift_," shouted the one who had been referred to as Mike.

"Orbit complete," came a female voice through the speaker system. "Prepare for final rocket to be launched. Repeat, prepare for final rocket to be launched."

"What does that mean?" I asked quickly, remembering my last experience with a launch.

"This one won't be so bad, it's the final rocket attached to the ship, we're going to be heading directly towards the moon now, leaving the earth's orbit." There was a rumble under our feet but much gentler than any we had experienced before and I felt the shuttle start to move in a different direction.

"How do you know that?" demanded one of our hosts. "That's classified, this whole mission's classified. I know what you are… you're Russian spies."

"Neil Armstrong, am I right?" asked the Doctor, addressing the speaker. He nodded and I grinned. This was just too cool. "The absolute last thing we are is Russian spies. I didn't even mean to land here, I was having some problems with my ship. Look, like I said, we'll stay out of the way. It's just that Noelle here wanted to go to the moon and I said it'd be boring so we were just going to watch the launch and well… I missed our landing site a bit…. This is pointless isn't it?" The last comment was an aside to me as the three men of the Apollo mission continued to stare at us with horrified, uncomprehending faces.

"Yup, you're not making a word of sense," I agreed.

"I… I don't even know what to do here," said the third man who was clearly Buzz Aldrin. "There isn't even training for something like this."

"We're going to lock them up, until we can figure out what's going on," said Mike firmly. "By right's, you shouldn't even be alive but if you're not going to tell us who you are, we have no choice. Neil, radio ground control in Houston, tell them we've got a problem." I giggled and the men glared at me.

"Ohh, come on! We did tell you who were are! I'm the Doctor, this is Noelle, we're not spies. That should be good enough!" cried the Doctor.

"This is impossible," said Buzz, throwing his hands in the air. Mike arose from his seat and grabbed each of us by the arm.

"They're not hallucinations," he said, sounding a bit disappointed at this fact.

"Doctor, maybe it would be better if we just went. We shouldn't cause any more problems for them," I said with a sigh. I had wanted to see the moon landing first hand.

"Maybe you're right Noelle. Alrighty, back to the TARDIS. Sorry to bother you, gentlemen although I suggest you work on your hospitality efforts. Honestly, what kind of impression would that make on any aliens who show up who _don't_ know about the human race." They were looking at us like we were insane.

The Doctor wrenched his arm from Mike's grip and took my hand, leading me out of the control area and back into the hallway. There was a stunned silence from within then the radio crackled to life, waking them out of their shock.

"Mike, you can't let them wander off, you've got to get them in lock down," came Neil's voice and then. "Apollo to ground control. Ground control, we seem to have a problem on board, do you read me?"

Mike had come out behind us and this time was less gentle when grabbing my arm. "I don't know who you think you are…" he started but was cut off by a loud sound of static that seemed to emanate from the control room. "What the…"

"Is that the radio?" I asked the Doctor. "It's awfully loud."

"You are Apollo 11," came a metallic voice through the radio speakers. It was a statement, not a question. The voice was cold and emotionless. "We will assist your arrival to the moon landing site. Prepare to be upgraded."

I looked at the Doctor in horror and his eyes were widened in shock.

"No…" he whispered. "It can't be…."

"Ground control? Who is this? What is upgraded?" Neil replied.

"You will be upgraded. Those who will not upgrade will be deleted. Deleted!"

The static cut off and there was silence.

"This is just too much, what was _that_?" demanded Mike.

I took a shuddering breath and forced myself to stay calm as the Doctor confirmed my worst fears.

"They're cybermen."

------

AN: Alright, I'll admit it, I don't know anything about what the inside of the Apollo 11 space shuttle looks like. Seriously, there is NO info on google about the _inside_ of the shuttle, how unhelpful is that? Anyway, another fun chapter to write, although it's been slow going now that I'm back at school. Things will be even slower as I begin working on my own novel but I'll definitely be working on this when I have the time. Thanks in advance for your reviews – it's about ten degrees below zero here and it's been snowing non-stop for a week. Your reviews make me warm and fuzzy inside so keep 'em coming :D.


	17. One Giant Leap Part II

**February 4, 2008**

The Doctor moved faster than I could have imagined, jumping back into the control room and taking Mike's seat between Neil and Buzz.

"Can you play that message again?" he asked frantically. "Can you get that exact message to replay?"

"It must have been an error from ground control," said Neil. "Just some interference jumbling the message."

"You've got to listen to me, play back that message NOW!" shouted the Doctor and everyone looked at him in surprise. Something in his voice must have affected the astronauts. Buzz's expression changed from one of incredulity to one of fear as he twisted a knob on the deck and hit a small green button.

"We will assist your arrival to the moon landing site. Prepare to be upgraded," repeated the chilling metallic voice. The Doctor held the sonic screwdriver up to the deck, focusing on the source of the sound. There was a pause and then the voice continued, "you will be upgraded. Those who will not upgrade will be deleted. Deleted!"

"What is that, a flashlight?" asked Mike, eyeing the sonic screwdriver suspiciously.

"I only know of one species in the universe that has that vocal patterning and wavelength and trust me, you do not want to meet them," said the Doctor.

"They can't be cybermen!" I said. "I mean… how is that possible? They're clearly not from earth."

"Well, I have seen cybermen on other planets in other universes; my universe in fact, they didn't originate on earth. But there's something odd going on here; they clearly match the vocal pattern on the cybermen but they sound _old_. Ridiculously old. Nearly as old as the earth itself. But this recording… it doesn't give any me any idea where they are. They could be on earth, in a space craft, on another planet millions of light years away. What are they looking for? Why are they interested in the Apollo mission?"

"I don't know what kind of shit you think you're pulling here but I'm telling you right now, this is ending. You might be spies or whack-job alien freaks from the US but whatever you are, through my power as commander of this voyage, I'm placing you under arrest. Mike, lock them in quarantine and I don't want any more distractions," said Neil angrily.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you," I said. "If you don't listen to the Doctor, we're all going to be dead – or worse – when the cybermen show up."

"What's a cyber men?" asked Buzz sarcastically. "This is ridiculous and whatever game you're playing, you are going to have the entire government of the United States of American and law enforcement waiting for you the minute we return to earth."

"_If_ we get back to earth," cried the Doctor.

"I've had enough of this," said Mike, grabbing the Doctor and me for the third time and directing us through the ship back towards the room where the TARDIS had landed.

"You've got to listen to me, if there are cybermen here, now, then something has gone terribly wrong!" the Doctor pleaded.

"This can't be what happened," I said to him as we were marched down the narrow hallway.

"It's not," he replied darkly. "Let's get back to the TARDIS, I need to see if I can trace the message."

"You're not going anywhere," said Mike, tightening his grip on our arms. He was a lot stronger than he looked.

"Mike. Michael Collins, isn't it? You have absolutely no idea what you're dealing with," said the Doctor.

"That's for sure," Mike muttered. We were passing the door that led to the TARDIS and the Doctor stopped short, causing Mike and I to crash into each other. He took a deep breath and said angrily, "alright, you wanted to know who I am? I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. You haven't heard of them because they're an alien race from another dimension. I have two hearts, the brain power of most of your earth's masterminds combined, a space ship that travels through time and space and looks like a British police box and a sonic screwdriver." There was a beat.

"Oh, and I'm also the star of my own television show."

"I don't know if that did much to convince anyone you're not crazy," I said, unable to suppress a smile. His speech had had its affect, however, and Mike was staring at the Doctor, slack-jawed, and had slightly released his grip on his captives. In that moment of shock, the Doctor pulled away from Mike and opened the door to the storage area where the TARDIS was still lying on its side.

"What the _hell_ is that?" asked Mike, his voice cracking as he stared at the TARDIS in shock.

"He did tell you," I said. "Don't you wanna look inside?" I followed the Doctor who had already clambered into the TARDIS. As I slid through the open door, more like a tunnel than a doorway due to the ship's sideways position, the world seemed to rotate a quarter turn and I found myself standing upright in the TARDIS entrance. I could see Mike standing in the storage area of the space shuttle, his feet in view through the open door. Suddenly his head appeared as he bent over to peer inside and nearly fell over backwards.

"That's impossible," he gasped. "Completely impossible!" His head vanished again and his feet walked towards the door to the storage area and I heard him call, "Neil… Buzz… get into storage area C _now_. You're not going to believe this."

"Noelle, come help me with this," said the Doctor, pulling me away from my sideways vantage point into the Apollo shuttle. "I'm going to run through a number of wavelengths, when you hear something that sounds like the cybermen, hit the record button here." I nodded at the purplish button he indicated and pulled on a pair of headphones attached to the deck as the Doctor started to fiddle with something on the other side of the control deck. My ears were filled with the sounds of radio static, strange voices and bits of music as he presumably tuned the TARDIS radio through the universe. After a minute or so of listening intently, I thought I heard something familiar.

"Doctor, go back to that last one," I called. There was static and then, "…not upgraded will be deleted. Deleted!" I hit the button and pulled off the earphones.

"Found 'em. So now can you figure out where they are?"

"I think so, it'll take a moment, though. Oh look, we've got company," said the Doctor as a pair of legs entered the TARDIS door, soon followed by the rest of Neil Armstrong.

"My god," he whispered. "It's…" he trailed off.

"Bigger on the inside?" I asked, grinning at the Doctor.

Mike and Buzz had joined Neil and the three of them stared in shock at the interior of the TARDIS. I felt a twinge of pity for them – they were under enough stress with their mission into space, the entire hopes of the United Space pinned on their moon mission. This must really be unnerving, to say the least.

"It's my ship. It's like your ship. Except a lot better," said the Doctor, returning his focus to the computer.

"But it's not a space ship… it's a box!"

"It just looks like a box on the outside," I explained. "It's called the TARDIS – that stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. It can travel through space and time and other universes. Come on, you guys have got to be science fiction fans, this can't be _that _unfamiliar."

"Keyword there being _fiction_," said Mike ruefully. "This is going to take a bit of getting used to." There was a pause and then, "hang on, did you say you're an _alien_?"

"Yup," called the Doctor, still not paying much attention to the crew.

"Like… from another planet?"

"That's the one."

"A real alien?"

"You're a bit slow, aren't you?" said the Doctor, finally annoyed.

Neil heaved a sigh and then said reluctantly, "alright Doctor, you'd better start explaining what you know about these cybermen things."

----

"And they're basically human but have no emotions, and want to turn the rest of humanity into things just like them?" confirmed Buzz.

"If we don't stop them, they'd reduce the earth to a metal world, full of people encased in steel suits, never growing old, never dying, and never feeling any emotion," said the Doctor. While he had explained to the astronauts what he knew about cybermen, he had been typing frantically on the computer. "Ahh ha, I've just about got it."

I joined the Doctor at the computer consol although the numbers and coordinates on the screen meant nothing to me.

"Oh no, this is bad. This is very very bad," he said.

"What? What is it?" asked Neil quickly.

"Take all the bad you could possibly imagine and add another shoebox full of bad," he continued.

"Doctor, where are they?" I asked, already suspecting the answer.

"They're on the moon. And we're heading right for them."

"That's impossible, there's nothing on the moon!" I cried. "You said so yourself."

"There's not supposed to be anything on the moon, that's for sure. But they're on the moon, I'm certain, and they want us there too."

For a moment, all five of us stared at one another and I felt something sinking in my stomach. And sinking. And sinking. Past the point where fear would normally take my stomach.

"Doctor…" I asked slowly, reaching out to steady myself against the TARDIS deck. "Are we… accelerating?"

A look of shock and fear rose on his face. "It's a gravity well, they're pulling us in! Quick, we need to get back to the Apollo control deck!" He jumped past Neil and his crew and out of the TARDIS, the rest of us hurrying behind. We found the Doctor in the control room looking out at the rapidly approaching moon.

"That's impossible," said Mike. "We're approaching way to fast, we should have another 72 hours before we're even close to making our landing. At this rate… we're going to be within landing range in…" he quickly typed in some numbers. "Twenty minutes! My god, we're going to crash into the moon!"

"We're not going to crash," said the Doctor. I could tell he was thinking hard. "They clearly want you for something, the cybermen wouldn't make such an effort if there wasn't something they wanted, they don't care about anything except _upgrading_ more of the human race, it's all they're programmed to do. We've got to get ready for when we do land. What have we got on board?"

"No weapons, if that's what you mean," said Buzz. "Just the materials for our space walk – space suits, oxygen, the memorabilia we're going to leave behind…"

"Isn't there another rocket?" I asked. "You've got to have something that gets you off the moon and back to earth, why not just turn around now?"

"We're coming in too fast, there's no way they could turn the ship around," said the Doctor. "There's no way to avoid it, we're just going to have to prepare for landing. What ever happens, we have to keep them away from the ship. I don't know what they want or how they got to the moon but there's a chance they're stranded there and we can't give them a way to get to earth. How many space suits are on board?"

"Just three," said Mike. "It was never the plan to have me in the lunar module, or on the moon. It's just the suits for Neil and Buzz and a spare should something go wrong."

"Right, Neil? Buzz? Suit up, we're going to need to be ready to leave the ship the moment we land."

"It doesn't work like that," said Buzz. "We go into orbit around the moon, then launch the lunar module to descend to the moon's surface. The whole ship doesn't just land on the moon."

"Prepare for a slight change of plans. The cybermen don't really care how you had things planned, they're bringing the whole ship in. Stop staring, we need to get those space suits on."

"What do you mean, 'we,' Doctor?" I asked nervously.

"Noelle, I can't have you argue with this, I need to go with them," he said.

"Well can't I come too?" I said feeling the threat of tears rise in my throat. I had been scared and in danger before as we had traveled but I had never been alone, the Doctor had always been there. Now, facing what could be the most deadly assailant yet, I was going to be alone in the cramped spacecraft, unable to do anything.

"There's only three suits, I'm sorry," said the Doctor. "There's radio and I can modify the cameras to broadcast back here to you and Michael."

I nodded and looked away, refusing to let the Doctor see how upset I was. Without warning, the ship began to shudder, throwing us all to the floor.

"We're passing through the moon's orbit, we don't have long now. We've got to get those suits on!" cried the Doctor and the others nodded.

"This way," said Neil leading the Doctor and Buzz through the ship and out of sight.

I sighed and sat down in one of the now vacant chairs on the flight deck, next to Mike. He was staring unseeingly out of the small window to the moon rising up below us.

"This is my second time in space," he said. I wasn't sure if he was speaking to himself, to me or simply to the moon below. "And I told them it was going to be my last. They said I could work my way up to flight commander, I'd be in charge by Apollo 17. I told 'em I didn't want it, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to be on this trip. I've done so much, you know?" He turned to look at me. "And I don't even accept that you're here, let alone what you're saying is true. I mean… I'm supposed to be a military man, prepared for anything but this… this is like nothing I've ever seen."

"Mr. Collins… Mike… I know it's impossible to believe but it's true and if there was anything or _anyone_ you wanted to meet in space, it was the Doctor. I'll admit it, I'm terrified. But the Doctor hasn't let me down and we've been in some pretty bad situations."

"And what are you? Am I supposed to believe you're some sort of alien too?"

"Nope, I'm just as human as you are."

"Then how do you know so much about all of this? Space and our mission and Neil, Buzz and me?"

"It's really hard to explain and you wouldn't believe me if I told you," I said with a wry smile.

"I don't know if there's much I wouldn't believe at this point," said Mike.

"Well you certainly won't believe how much more comfortable space suits get… I mean, this isn't just _retro_, this is plain _old fashioned_," said the Doctor, reappearing in the doorway. "I'm a marshmallow! A marshmallow with a bubble head! A marshmallow with a bubble head and really big, awkward boots!"

"And you're just in time too," I said, indicating the view out of the window. The sky had disappeared and all we could see was the surface of the moon, individual craters clearly visible as we drew closer.

"Brace yourselves," said the Doctor. "They may want us alive, or our ship intact, but that doesn't mean we're not in for a bumpy landing!"

There was a frightening jolt and a shout from one of the astronauts, then complete stillness and silence.

"The rockets have gone out," whispered Buzz.

"They probably went out earlier, back then we entered the moon's orbit. Come on, the cybermen used a gravity field to pull us in – effective but not particularly specific. They'll be nearby but not directly outside. We've got to head them off before they get to the ship, find out what they want."

I walked over to the Doctor and threw my arms around him, space suit and all.

"I'll see you soon then, yeah?" I asked, willing my voice not to shake.

"Be back before you know it," he said with a smile.

"You'd better." Out of the corner of my eye I could see Buzz and Neil shaking hands with Mike. "And get them back safe too. That would really mess up history," I added in a whisper. The Doctor winked at me and grabbed my hand tightly through his own leathery glove.

"Good luck, Doctor."

"And you," he said and then they were gone.

-------

AN: So… it's been pointed out to me there may have been some minor inconsistencies with the equipment described in my version of the Apollo mission and what actually existed. Oh well… that's why I write fiction . Hope you're enjoying this story arc, I know there wasn't much action here but I'll make up for it next time in the final installment of "One Giant Leap." As always, reviews are appreciated!


	18. One Giant Leap Part III

**Author's Note: **Ahh! I know! Don't tell me! I'm a terrible terrible writer. I not only left the story for about half a year, but I left you on a cliffhanger. I should be ashamed of myself. I completely understand if you don't have the slightest idea what's going on anymore. To be fair, I've been a bit busy. I finished senior year of college, graduated, moved to London, found a job, found a flat, and wrote this (and that was just the last 20 days. Before that I was… well… er… alright, I'm a slacker.)

In any case, I'm here now, with the final chapter of this storyline and I've attempted to compensate by making it my longest chapter yet. If you are still with me, dear reader, please read and review and accept the sincerest apologies for making you wait so long for this update.

**--**

**February 5, 2008**

I sunk down into the seat in front of the control panel and stared blankly out onto the moon's surface when there was a crackle of static and the video monitor on the desk lit up.

"Noelle? Mike?" came the Doctor's voice.

"Mike… you're not going to believe this. We're on the moon. We're the first humans on the surface of the moon. It's just one small step for…" the Doctor cut Neil off.

"Right, we'll get to that bit later. But for now we have got to find the cybermen and figure out what they want. Preferably without them realizing we've done so. Then we make sure they don't get it. And then we escape. Right, Mike, do you have visuals up there?"

The image on the screen resolved itself into a shaky picture of the Doctor, Neil and part of Buzz's arm. It looked like the camera was mounted on Buzz's space suit. Neil was waving his arm up and down, marveling at the change in gravity but the Doctor seemed much less concerned with the lack of atmosphere and was turning this way and that, looking for some clue as to the location of our welcoming committee.

"Seeing you fine Doctor," said Mike, switching on the intercom. "What's it like down there?"

"The moon," replied the Doctor simply. "Ahh, what's this then?"

He bent over, inspecting something on the moon's surface.

"Doctor? What is it?"

"It's a footprint. It's a whole lot of footprints."

"But that's impossible," came Buzz's voice. "How can there be footprints on the moon?" The camera focused in on the large treaded prints as he bent over to look for himself.

"It's the cybermen. There's no wind here, not atmosphere, these prints could have been here for years and years. And they lead to those craters," said the Doctor, pointing into an unseen distance.

"You've only got six hours of oxygen in those tanks so don't travel too far from the ship," said Michael.

"Well then, we'd better get moving," the Doctor said and, slowly in the lack of gravity, I saw the three men turn and begin to follow the path of footprints.

The tension filled minutes passed as the Doctor and the astronauts made their maddeningly slow way towards the distant craters. There wasn't much to say and I fiddled with the now useless intercom buttons on the Apollo control deck. After what seemed like hours, but really couldn't have been more than 20 minutes, they reached the crater only to discover the footprints joined up with dozens of other paths leading in as many directions. The Doctor let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Now what?" asked Neil. He stared around at the bleak landscape.

"We've got to be close," insisted the Doctor.

"There must be thousands of them," said Buzz, eyeing the footprints.

"Not necessarily. Because there's no atmosphere, and no wind, these footprints could have been here for years. They could have all been made by a single cyberman, stranded here for centuries," said the Doctor encouragingly; although something in his voice gave me the distinct feeling he didn't quite believe we would be as lucky as that.

"Don't be stupid, no one could live here for centuries," said Neil.

"You'd better start dealing with the fact that cybermen are going to be doing a lot things you believe are impossible. And I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but if you can't handle that I'm going to need you to go back to the ship because things are going to get a whole lot worse." Neil was silent but did not move. "Now," continued the Doctor, "we need to spread out and see if we can find anything that might lead us to where the cybermen are now.

"Doctor," I called a few minutes later, speaking into the intercom. "Where do you think the cybermen came from?"

"Well," came the response after a moment, his voice musing. "Hard to say, really. I don't even know which version of cybermen they are. For all we know, they could be a species entirely unique to this universe, although that seems unlikely. Ah ha… what's this then?"

Buzz came up behind him and the camera view focused in on something metallic half buried in the dusty ground. Whatever it once had been, it was marred beyond recognition now and even from my limited view through the camera I could see that it was badly scorched with burn marks.

"What is it?" asked Mike.

The Doctor bent down and began to scrape away the moon surface surrounding the artifact, finally pulling it out of the ground entirely. It was a lot larger than I had first imagined, about the length of the Doctor's arm, slightly skinnier, and tapered at one end. It was still so filled with clods of rock and dust that there was no way to make out its original shape.

"Here, see if you can clean off the moon bits," said the Doctor, handing the object to Buzz. "Neil, help me look around the area. If there's anything else, it might lead us to the cybermen. The Doctor and Neil disappeared from the camera view as they walked off, leaving Buzz to scrape away at the thing in his hands. I watched intently, first with interest, then with growing dread as Buzz unveiled the true form of the artifact. I covered my mouth to keep from shouting out loud as Buzz turned to the others and said in disbelief, "as if things couldn't get any weirder. This thing looks like some sort of giant eggbeater!"

The Doctor was at his side in an instant, grabbing the metal arm from Buzz's hands.

"No, no no no no! It can't be," he muttered. "Not again, not here too!"

"Doctor, is that what I think it is?" I asked, not needing a response. The Dalek arm, as mangled and dilapidated as it was, was still instantly recognizable.

"What is it? What's going on now?" demanded Mike, pounding his fists on the control deck in frustration.

The Doctor had pulled out his sonic screwdriver and was running it back and forth over the arm. After a moment, his shoulders relaxed.

"It's dalektonium alright, but it's been buried here for centuries, millennia even," said the Doctor, puzzled. "I don't think we need to worry about any Daleks showing up but this is impossible!"

"You said when we met that there are no Daleks in this dimension. How could one of their arms be on the moon?"

"What on earth is a Dalek?" said Buzz.

"Trust me, you don't want to know. You'd better stick with cybermen for now. I've seen what happens when the two get together and you really, really don't want that. And Noelle, this isn't from your dimension. It's covered in void particles." The Doctor seemed to be holding his flimsy paper glasses up in front of his helmet.

There was a moment's pause as he glanced around the barren landscape, still looking through the paper glasses then, as if making a decision, he slipped the glasses into a pouch hanging from his utility belt. As he replaced the glasses, I noticed a green glint from within the bag. I squinted at the poor image on the screen but the pouch closed before I had a chance to see what the Doctor was carrying. He turned to face Neil and Buzz.

"Right, enough of this wandering around." He was bouncing slightly on the soles of his feet, something I noticed he did when he was nervous. I bit my lip. "I say we go meet our hosts and see exactly what's going on here. And I'm getting a really good feeling about _that_ direction," he said, gesturing down one of the heaviest traveled path of footprints.

"That's it? You get a good feeling?" said Buzz skeptically.

"That, and the air in that direction is just dancing with void particles. I can see them through these glasses. The important thing is that it's an indicator that there's something over there that shouldn't be. Allons-y!"

The small team set off again, treading silently over the large cybermen footprints in the ground.

After a few minutes of walking, Neil stumbled forward having apparently caught his foot on something else lodged in the ground.

"Hang on a sec," he called. "There's something else metal here."

"It's not another of those eggbeater things is it?" asked Buzz as he and the Doctor turned back to have a look.

"No, it's flat. It looks like… like a sign of some sort."

The three of them bent over the object and the Doctor brushed away the dust that had settled on top. This time I didn't even have to stifle my gasp; I was at a complete loss for sound.

"Oy. That's something you don't see every day. Well, something you don't see every day on the moon. Well, something you don't see every day on the moon for a couple hundred years."

"What is that symbol?" asked Mike.

"That," I said, finding words at last, "is the sign for the Canary Wharf tube station."

The worn metal was nearly completely gray with age, and there was only the faintest markings of the iconic red circle and blue cross bar but the words "Canary Wharf" could still be seen. My brain struggled to assemble the rush of thoughts that instantly overwhelmed me. Cybermen, bits of Daleks and a centuries-old piece of 21st century London.

"But that's impossible," the Doctor whispered, reaching out a shaking hand to touch the cold metal plate. "Noelle…"

"Yes Doctor?"

"You know how I said that the void flung us back out when we tried to go to a different dimension?"

"Yes…" I said, already guessing what would come next.

"I don't think we're the only things that got flung out."

Mike started to say something beside me but I shushed him with a wave of my hand. The three astronauts seemed to sense the Doctor's misgivings and stared nervously around at the desolate land.

"Doctor, you don't think these are the cybermen from Canary Wharf! It's 1969, in a parallel dimension. And you said these things have been here for centuries!" I tried to get my mind around the situation.

"Wibbily wobbily timey wimey stuff Noelle," he replied although I didn't catch the usual lighthearted undertone or excitement that usually accompanied those words. "You know, I really would like to get history back on course here but for once I think this may be something of a permanent change. I really think we ought to get back to the ship."

"But you said that it's stuck here on the moon… that we can't get out. You said the cybermen wanted our ship for something." Buzz sounded alarmed.

"Oh, and they do. And I was all for heading them off, switching off the gravity well, and getting you all home to your hero's welcome but I'm beginning to think that's not an option."

"So we're going to sit in the ship until they come to get us or we run out of air?" asked Neil, already preparing to argue with the Doctor.

"Certainly not, we're going to blow up the space ship."

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Don't look at me like that, did I mention my TARDIS can teleport us back to earth?"

"Look, I've put up with a lot today, but I don't even know who you are or what we're dealing with and now you're suggesting that we blow up the most expensive project undertaken by NASA and climb in a little wooden box to escape an enemy we haven't even seen because you claim you can _teleport_ us back to earth?"

"Neil, I know you're frightened, believe me I know. But I promise you, we're going to get out of this. You are all going to survive, you just have to trust me. And right now… right now I think we'd better get back to the ship. We can reverse the fuel boosters and ignite the engine – it should cause enough of an explosion to destroy the ship entirely. Because if the cybermen get their hands on it and get back to earth… well… I don't think you'd really want to be going home at all."

"For the last time, I'm not going to blow up the ship…" started Neil when he stopped dead. There was a pause and I could make out the faintest sounds of grinding metal and gravel crushed under heavy footfalls.

"What the _hell_ is that?" asked Mike. "Buzz, Neil… someone come tell me what you've got out there?"

"Humankind space travelers, you have been selected despite your primitive technology. You need not fear. We will remove all fear. We will replace you with the upgraded version of humanity."

Into the view screen strode a dust-covered, battered and aged but still fully functional cyberman. Flanking him were twelve more, all marching in perfect unison. Behind them I could make out dozens of others, suddenly appearing over the crest of a large crater.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I've heard the lecture," said the Doctor sarcastically. "Human 2.0." I had never heard such loathing in his voice.

"Voice pattern recognized. You are the Doctor. Hostile element detected, the Doctor must be deleted."

"Yeah, you know I've heard that bit before too. And then I sent you into the void. How did that work out for you? There's nothing in the void. No time or space or matter or thought or knowledge. How did you escape?"

"You may not question us," came the reply.

"Oh yes I can, and I've got a lot of them," retorted the Doctor with a rather tense grin.

The other two men had been staring, slack-jawed, at the metallic men advancing upon them.

"But… they don't have space suits! Are they robots?" asked Neil.

"Space equipment is unnecessary. We have been encased in a protective shell and life support system that removes the need for outside oxygen or heat sources."

"That is not a life support system. There isn't enough life left in there to support," said the Doctor coldly. "But go on… tell me. If you're going to delete me it won't make any difference, will it. How did you escape the void?"

"We were released from the void into this dimension. We floated through space along with the debris of the battle at Canary Wharf until we landed here. We have been patiently waiting for human arrival."

"How long have you been waiting?" asked the Doctor.

"Internal computers register 1,424 years without outside contact."

Neil and Buzz gaped. Beside me, Mike let out a low whistle.

"We have used spare parts and debris to construct limited gravity pockets but we have been unable to leave this moon and return to earth to finish our programmed instructions to upgrade humanity."

"Ohh, I see. Debris came through with you from the battle but spare parts? You've been cannibalizing the crew. You didn't have anything else for 'spare parts' and even that wasn't enough to make something that could get you off of the moon. You've been rotting here for centuries and tearing each other apart just to survive," said the Doctor, sounding surprisingly sympathetic.

"Individual sacrifice was required for collective survival. But now we have the Apollo craft and we will escape the moon. We were unprepared for Apollo 10 and the gravity well only brought the craft part of the way into orbit. We prepared for Apollo 11 and will now have control of the ship and return to earth."

"Right, well, see, that's where we're going to have a bit of a problem. I can't let you do that."

"You are responsible for our imprisonment here, and you have questioned long enough. It is time for you to be deleted."

The cybermen raised their weapons and in the control room of the Apollo I screamed out loud.

"I thought this might come in handy," said the Doctor, pulling the green glowing object I had glimpsed earlier out of the pouch on his utility belt. There was a flash of light, and the Doctor, Neil and Buzz here gone – the screen had gone black.

Mike and I looked at each other in horror.

"Doctor?" Mike shouted into the intercom. "Neil, Buzz… can anyone hear me?"

"We can't hear them anymore, the connection's gone," I said, trying to take it all in. We were completely cut off from the Doctor and the rest of the crew.

"Are they dead?" asked Mike, sounding slightly hysteric. "Oh god, they're dead, they're all dead and we're next."

"They're not dead!" I cried. "The Doctor can't be dead, you don't know him. And he's not going to let Buzz and Neil die either. Look, I'm not supposed to say this, I'm sure I'm going to make the universe implode or something, but at this point I don't think things could get much worse. Anyway, I told you I was just an ordinary human like you. It's true. But I'm from the future. And in the future, you're famous. All three of you. You come back national heroes; the first men on the moon. And that's how it happened. The Doctor is going to make it right, just wait."

"Did you say you're from the future?" said Mike, having apparently got stuck on the non-reassuring part of my tirade.

"Ug, it's not important. But we have to do what the Doctor said. We have to destroy the Apollo."

"What?" asked Mike. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am. You heard the Doctor, we can wait it out in the TARDIS. If we don't destroy the ship… what was it he said? Reverse the fuel boosters – and explode the ship, the cybermen will use it to get back to earth. And they will turn everyone into copies of themselves – it's what they're programmed to do. I've sort of seen it before." I didn't want to mention that it had been in a television drama, I didn't think that would add to my credibility. "What they leave behind isn't even human anymore."

"Noelle, I think it's great that you have faith in your Doctor but I can't say the same about the guy. I just met him. I haven't even really met him at all, in fact. And as far as I can see, this spaceship is the only chance we have of getting out of here alive. I want to believe the others are alive, but I just don't see how it's possible. You can disagree with me all you like but I'm not going to blow up this ship."

"You have to listen to me! At least help me get the TARDIS off of the ship so we can get in when the cybermen get here!"

"Look, things went bad, but there's training for this. I just have to follow the training." Mike seemed to be talking to himself now. "And I can't have some kid getting in the way."

Despite my flailing limbs, Mike lifted me bodily from the seat in the control room and carried me to the hall of the space craft, literally tossing me down the hall and locking himself in the control deck.

"You can't do this! You're going to be responsible for destroying the entire _planet_!" I screamed, pounding on the door with both fists. There was no reply.

A wave of slight hysterics washed over me and I slid to the floor, leaned against the wall and tried to stop the uncontrollable shaking that had overcome me.

"This is ridiculous," I told myself sternly. "I'm not even supposed to _be _here! Get it together and figure this out." With a deep breath, I counted to ten then stood shakily. With a slight thrill, I realized that I still had the TARDIS key the Doctor had given me only a few days before. I ran down the hall to the storage area where the TARDIS was waiting and ducked inside.

"Come on…" I muttered, imploring the ship to help me. "Do something useful!" I hit some of the strange buttons on the TARDIS control deck and to my great surprise, the television screen lit up with a picture of the Apollo 11 and the surrounding lunar surface. For a moment I tried to figure out where the TARDIS could possibly be getting that video feed but quickly ignored the improbability of the image and focused on what was marching towards us. My heart sank. The Doctor, Buzz and Neil were nowhere in sight amongst the army of cybermen.

"If I can just get Mike to see this, he'll have to destroy the Apollo," I said to no one in particular. I only had a few minutes. The cybermen were closer than I had thought and would be upon the ship soon. I clambered out of the TARDIS, still lying on its side, and began to race back down the corridor towards the locked control room and Mike. I was so intent on running towards him that I didn't realize when something came pelting out of a side corridor right in front of me. With a scream, I collided into the oncoming figure.

"Noelle! It's me, it's Mike," was the first thing I understood through my own shouting. That instantly shut me up and we untangled ourselves from each other.

"Mike, I need to show you, the cybermen are almost here, they're going to take the ship and if you don't… do that booster thing, they're going to get back to earth!"

"I know, the screens of the ship suddenly started showing an image of the oncoming cybermen army. I don't know where it came from…."

"That's the TARDIS," I said, almost cheering. "I love that ship! So you'll do it? You'll destroy the Apollo? We don't have much time."

"I already did," he said with a sigh. "It's just… I didn't see Neil or Buzz, or that Doctor of yours. And, well, if they died, if they gave their lives trying to stop these things, then damn it if I'm not going to do the same. Now I need to get back to the control deck and start up the engines. That will ignite the fuel tanks and should start a chain reaction that will destroy the ship." His voice wavered for a moment, but his resolve held strong as he turned away from me and towards the control deck.

I made to follow him but there was a shockingly loud bang from outside the ship. Like some sort of horrendous knocking. The wall buckled under the unseen pressure and I screamed again.

"Mike get back!" I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back towards me as the wall buckled further. "They're going to break through the wall and we don't have space suits! We've got to get back to the TARDIS."

We took off at a run back the way I had come.

"You said that all you had to do was start the engines to trigger the explosion, right?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah, it should destroy the ship pretty quickly."

"Then as soon as the cybermen start the engines, they'll explode the ship themselves?"

"Yeah… hey, that's a good point. You think we might actually survive this?" Mike asked with the first hopeful note in his voice I had heard all day.

"Honestly? I have no idea. But we're certainly not going to out here!"

We dove into the storage area and bolted the door just as I heard the rush of the air leaving the ship and the pounding ceased. For a moment there was silence, then the loud metal footsteps of the cybermen echoed down the hall.

"Quick, get in," I said, gesturing to the TARDIS. Mike slid into the box and I after him, locking the door and praying that the Doctor knew what he was talking about when he said this thing could stand a nuclear explosion.

I collapsed into the seat next to the TARDIS flight deck as the adrenaline that had been keeping me upright flooded out of my body. For nearly a quarter of an hour, I listened to the thud of footsteps echoing outside of the TARDIS but as far as I could tell, they hadn't found our hideout yet. I gave a hiccupping sob and Mike reached out to pat me on the shoulder.

"Hey kid, buck up. We'll face this like me… well, like, er… humans. The kind with all of our emotions intact. We knew what we were signing up for when we joined this cruise ship and it's no use in complaining now."

There was a low rumble and the ground shifted under our feet. A moment later, the air grew warm. Mike didn't have to tell me; the cybermen had ignited the engine. There was an increase in the amount of sound around us but I still couldn't make out words.

"It's not that; although I'm a little concerned about the potential for dying nearly 20 years before I was born. It's just that, the Doctor is still out there. He has to be. If we could just get to him…."

"Noelle, you've got to face it, the Doctor is dead. You saw that army, if they wanted us dead, they were going to get us dead, no question about it. Now I'll admit this is a pretty remarkable box, but I don't think anything can stop all of those cyber freaks."

"Oy," came a voice from the TARDIS door. "Don't underestimate my ship. And I am certainly not dead. At least, I rather don't think I'm dead. Do I look dead to you?"

"Doctor!!" I shouted, flinging myself across the room to throw my arms around him. "What… how…" I started to phrase a question, but gave up and hugged him tightly. I was just coherent enough to recognize the shell-shocked forms of Buzz and Neil standing behind him.

"I would love to tell you all about how we escaped, but I'm not sure we've quite finished yet."

"DELETE! DELETE!!" came the angry cry behind the Doctor. He pulled the two astronauts in behind him and slammed the TARDIS door.

"Alright, we have approximately 30 seconds until this thing launches like, shall we say, a rocket. And I really do love my TARDIS so would prefer not to send it up in the explosion." As the Doctor spoke, he began the maniac twisting of levels and pushing of buttons that signaled the TARDIS's takeoff. My heart raced as the centre pillar roared to life, pulsing with light and sound. Around us, the sound and the rising heat of the doomed Apollo ship faded away until all around us was the cool silence of the moon's orbit.

All five of us dashed to the door and peered at the surface of the moon below just as the Apollo exploded in a dazzling firework display of crimson and gold. A wave of fire overtook the cyberman army, knocking them down instantly. As the heat and wind spread out from the burning ship, it lifted the dusty surface of the moon and scattered the particles in the air. As the moon dust and ash from the explosion mixed in the air, it slowly settled over the cybermen, the footprints and the wreckage of the Apollo, hiding them from view.

I made the three astronauts a strong cup of coffee as the Doctor, Neil and Buzz explained to us what had happened after we lost contact.

"The Doctor pulled this sort of green glowing thing out of his pocket," said Buzz.

"It was a fuel cell from the TARDIS," he interjected from his position crouched under the TARDIS control deck where he was presumably reinstalling the missing fuel cell. "It had worked before on the cybermen and I wasn't going to risk going out there completely unarmed."

"That's not like you," I said quickly.

"No, no it's not," he said. There was a steely note in his voice that sent a shiver down my spine but he didn't elaborate.

"Anyway," continued Buzz. "It sort of, sent out this electric light that knocked down all of the cybermen around us. We tried to make a break for it but the space suits were too heavy to get far."

"Like I said! Marshmallow!" insisted the Doctor.

"But the cybermen had seen this technology and I guess they wanted it so when they caught us, and saw the full cell was now dead, they said they would keep the Doctor alive until he showed them his ship."

"They'd become such scavengers after fifteen centuries; literally dying for new technology and knowledge even if they couldn't realize it," the Doctor said.

"Well, then they started to take us back to the Apollo," continued Neil. "They were going to take us back to earth and upgrade us when we arrived. They had us right up in the front of their army, leading the way back to the ship."

"That must have been why I couldn't see you!" I said. "The way the camera was positioned, the ship must have been blocking you."

"What camera?" said the Doctor.

"I have no idea. The TARDIS just picked up some signal. It was above the Apollo, I could see the ship and the oncoming cybermen."

"What?"

"It was like, something recording from orbit."

"What??"

"Doctor, I don't know any more than that!"

He fiddled with some knobs on the control deck.

"Well, there isn't anything out here now…."

"It was a lucky break for us, whatever it was," said Mike, clearly not concerned about the mysterious floating camera. "It came through on the Apollo screens as well. I… I heard what you said, Doctor, about reversing the fuel boosters to explode the ship."

"Ohhh, is that what happened! Fantastic, that's just brilliant Mike!" cried the Doctor.

"Well, I couldn't have done it except for Noelle. I… I couldn't believe that was our only option."

The Doctor walked over to me and threw his arm casually over my shoulder. "Well, she's pretty brilliant as well, isn't she?"

"That must have been when they started the engines. Because suddenly it got really hot and there was a lot of noise from the control room. The cybermen all started to run around and we just took our chance and dashed for this room and the box thingy. Some of them tried to follow us but by that point it was clear that the ship was about to explode."

"Mike, you may not have saved NASA's investment but you'll be happy to know that you saved the world," said the Doctor, clapping him on the shoulder in a congratulatory manner.

"But what about the mission? No one is going to believe this."

"The cybermen pulled you in at a rate nearly twenty times your expected travel velocity," said the Doctor. "It's only been about 24 hours since you left base, and no one expects you to arrive on the moon for another few days. We'll go back to earth and you can sort things out."

"I suppose we could always film it in the studio," sighed Neil.

"What?" I cried.

"Yeah, we have a studio set up just in case we don't make it. Wouldn't want to look like failures!" said Buzz.

"And, since we've actually been to the moon, we can at least make sure the studio set is accurate," said Mike.

"I don't believe this!" I laughed. "The moon landing was actually filmed in a studio!"

"Due to very, very extenuating circumstance," added the Doctor with a wink. "Alright, the studio it is. Next stop, earth. Talk about a giant leap."

The TARDIS shuddered to life again and a moment later the Doctor threw open the door to reveal brilliant sunlight of the earth later afternoon. With a shout of joy, the three men fought their way out of the TARDIS while the Doctor and I followed behind.

"Doctor, Noelle, I don't know what to say," said Neil. He held out a hand to the Doctor, who accepted it cheerfully. Then, he reached down to give me a hug. Buzz and Mike did the same.

"Noelle, is it true what you said? About us returning as heroes." The Doctor gave me a reprimanding look which I ignored.

"That all depends on how well the filming goes, now doesn't it?" I said, laughing. Mike shrugged.

"Fair enough. I honestly don't know what we're going to say to NASA. I don't think I'm ever going to truly understand what happened here and I saw it with my own eyes."

"Aw, it's better that way," said the Doctor. "And… don't try too hard to work it out. It'll make your head hurt."

The last goodbyes were said and the Doctor and I returned to the TARDIS, leaving the astronauts to think of an explanation for their officers.

"It all works out in the end," I said. "Because I don't feel any differently about the history of space flight. I mean, I still remember learning about the Apollo 11 the way it should have happened."

"The way it _did_ happen, you mean," said the Doctor with a grin.

"Wibbily wobbily timey wimey stuff," I agreed. "But Doctor… if those were the cybermen from Canary Wharf…." His grin faded. "Do you think… I mean, the Daleks weren't there so maybe not, but it's possible that Ros…."

He cut me off.

"Nothing human could have survived what the cybermen went through. Nothing."

A heavy silence fell over the TARDIS but when I reached out to pat the Doctor's hand in an attempt to comfort my friend, he took it and held it tightly as the TARDIS once again took off for outer space.

--

Author's Note: Whew, that was quite a chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, I had a good time writing this one. A bit more action that usual. I'm going to do my absolute best to keep updating as I do have the rest of the story planned out. I hope it won't take me too long, but as I mentioned in the AN at the beginning of this chapter, I've just moved to London and am still trying to get settled (at the moment that includes finding friends. This is a hard city in which to meet people, yeesh!) but I do love writing this and can't wait to write more. Thank you for sticking with me, you're the best.


	19. Camera Man I

**Episode 7 – Camera Man**

"Ohh you're going to love it. A real vacation this time, and not a single cyberman if I can help it," said the Doctor, grinning widely.

We were sitting in the TARDIS control room. My previous adventure's bruises had alternated through an impressive array of colours and were finally fading and I had insisted flat out that whatever calibrating the Doctor felt was necessary, it could take place on route to a massage therapist. Preferably a full spa. Possibly on a tropical island.

"After the last few days I know we both could use that vacation," I agreed, having already made my feelings on the subject quite clear. "It's somewhere warm I hope."

"Noelle, you're going to love it," he repeated. "It's been rated one of the top ten places in the universe to see before you die by nearly every major tourist board there is. And that's not just because booking fees are so high!"

"Well, what is it then?"

"Prepare yourself," he said dramatically. "For Molasba, the planet of wonders. There are waterfalls eight miles high, and the water crashes down with such force that the air at the base is filled with sparking drops and shifting rainbows for a kilometre in every direction. There are tropical forests with flowers as big as your house in every colour you could imagine... and some you can't because you can't see in the ultraviolet wavelength. There are rose quartz beaches with the pink stones ground so fine they're smaller than the smallest grain of sand."

I sighed with delight. "That sounds amazing!"

"But it's not the scenery that makes it so popular," he added, looking so distinctly mischievous that I began to feel a bit like this vacation might not be so relaxing after all.

"Oh?"

"Molasba is on a time riff. Just a thin one, but there is a constant flux of energy from the past and the future wafting through the capital city of Alexandra."

"That sounds like your worst nightmare," I said, wondering how this could make an appealing tourist destination.

"Ordinarily yes, but it's closely regulated and not really in a position to do much damage. True... with enough power someone could theoretically split the universe in two, but the odds of that happening are so astronomically small that it's barely worth thinking about. It's like... like when you make a hole in the wall of your room from a nail or a thumb tack. You put some plaster over it and don't worry about it... you don't tear down the wall and rebuild the house."

"Alright, so it's not a big deal time riff. So why does that make it a tourist destination?"

"Well, it's just enough of an energy flux that people who live for a long time in the city tend to become particularly sensitive to the way that energy moves about, especially the way it moves about people. This gives them something like a sixth sense that you would probably call psychic vision. They can predict bits of the future or see things from the past... nothing major mind you, it's all very general. But every so often something particularly strong will come through and they'll have some quite useful information. The entire city is based around these psychic readers. There are thousands of them in Alexandra, and thousands more tourists waiting to have their fortune told."

"And where there are thousands of tourists, there are bound to be luxury hotels. With day spas," I said, returning the focus to the main goal. All the same, I felt a strange excitement at the thought of having my fortune told by someone who might actually be able to read the future.

"Right you are Noelle, and I can get more of the data points I need for triangulating the location of this massive energy source."

"Hang on a minute, you said that the farther we travel the farther off TARDIS lands from the preset destination. We only made a small jump last time and look what happened – we ended up on the moon for crying out loud! This... Molasba doesn't really sound like the kind of place that's just around the corner. What if we're thrown even farther off this time?"

"If we'd been making a longer jump we wouldn't have ended up in the Apollo," pointed out the Doctor. "We might not have been anywhere near the launch site. You just never know what you're gonna get!" With that, he threw a lever and the centre column of the TARDIS began to glow and shake. A moment later, there was a slight thud as it landed presumably on the Molasba.

"Ahh, fantastic," cried the Doctor, looking at the computer screen.

"We're in the right place?"

"Close enough, we're in one of the forests just beyond Alexandra. It'll be a bit of a walk, but it's a lovely day and you'll get to do some sightseeing! Lovely!"

"That's great..." I said, and hesitated. "Doctor?"

"Yeah?"

"Are the people on Molasba... human? Or, that is, do they look like humans?"

"Why d'you ask?"

"It's just... and I don't mean to be racist or, I guess, species-ist, but after the cybermen, the plant people, that guy from the video game company... it just seems like everyone out there wants to kill me."

"That," said the Doctor darkly. "Is the mentality that starts wars. So you think that if they're human they're perfectly harmless because let me tell you, that is not even remotely the case."

"Sorry I asked," I muttered.

"Look, it's fine to be wary, but don't make generalisations like that because one, they're not true, and two, you humans already have a bit of a reputation for being standoffish. Let's not encourage the stereotype. Molasbans are humanoid in shape, yes, although they are not actually related to humans. But their sun emits a number of different wavelengths and their skin is pigmented slightly differently."

"Oh, is that all?" I asked, relieved although still slightly abashed by the Doctor's lecture. "Wait... what pigment?"

"Blue. Now you're not going learn about them by sitting here talking to me, out we go!"

I stood still for a moment, trying to imagine blue people, but after a moment, gave up and followed the Doctor out into the dense humidity of the forest.

I was instantly overwhelmed by a sweet odour that permeated the heavy air around us. I gazed up in astonishment. We were standing under a canopy of impossibly tall trees that blocked out most of the sunlight but through the thick foliage, beams of dusty light pieced through to the forest floor where we stood, illuminating delicate purple flowers. Each one swayed back and forth as if in a light wind although the air as still, and seemed to be responsible for the scent. Around us, I could hear distant animal calls; some that sounded like birds and others that sounded more like primates but aside from some fluttering leaves above us and the flowers below, I couldn't sense any movement. The Doctor was peering in delight at a large bush with leaves as big as the TARDIS, each one veined with thin rivulets of gold amid the dark green.

"This is amazing," I cried. "This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!"

"I think... yes, look, right through there. We're just beyond the Clearing of the Crystal Giants and, unless things have very much changed since I was here last, there is a path that will take us out of the forest, though the farmlands beyond Alexandra, and into the city itself."

I followed him to the clearing where mammoth crystals of stunningly clear white stood rooted in the ground like so many giant shards of glass that had been left in the forest. Around one, I noticed a creeping tendril covered in something like roses. I gazed in wonder at the towering structures.

"Did someone put them here?"

"No, they're natural, although no one is quite sure exactly how they formed. It seems most likely that this was once part of an underground cave that was just rubbed away over time, leaving the crystals in the forest. And look! Here's the path, it should only be an hour or so walk to the city, let's go!"

I was rather disappointed to leave the forest although the humidity and sweet smelling air had become a bit overpowering. As we sauntered through the woods, the Doctor kept up a steady stream of talk about the history of Molasba, and how the tourist industry had grown after a particularly famous galactic emperor had come to the seers, and was told it would be best if he issued a food ration of a dozen biscuits to every citizen in his galaxy which, to make an incredibly long story short, prevented a civil war that would have consumed the galaxy. It was quite fortuitous to say the least and although the seers of Molasba have never quite managed a prediction on that scale again, it remains to this day the place where anyone who can afford the trip goes to relax and meet the seers."

We had come out of the forest into an open field. The brilliant sunlight, now uninhibited by the canopy of leaves, enveloped us but there was a soft breeze that dispersed the last of the powerfully sweet scent of the forest foliage. I felt my skin tingle slightly under the sun rays.

"You'll feel a bit odd in the sun, it's nothing to worry about," explained the Doctor. "We can get you some sunscreen in town, they sell it for tourists. But for now, no ill effects, just a bit of an odd sensation."

"And that's why the people here are blue?"

"Exactly. Oh look, we're nearly there."

We were coming up on a farm house and in the distance, I could see a gleaming city rising out of the level earth.

"Is that Alexandra?" I gasped. The spires of the city rose like golden towers reaching towards the sun and from what little I could see of the architecture, the main decorative features seemed to be a cross between the bulbous tower caps of an Islamic mosques and the layered, detailed effect of a pagoda.

"Right in one," grinned the Doctor. "Now let's see about finding you that massage."

"I don't know, at the moment a fortune telling is sounding quite fun too!" I grinned back. "Oh!" I let out a small cry of surprise. As we rounded the farm house on the road towards the city, in the garden there appeared what could only be one of the Molasban citizens. I hadn't known quite what to expect when the Doctor said blue but somehow I had been imagining an almost comical shade of sky blue, or Blue Man Group style of royal blue. What I saw was a middle aged woman with skin so deep blue that it was almost black. It was smooth as inky and only when the light caught her at the right angle could I see the sapphire quality of the colour. The golden and slightly greying hair piled on her head contrasted sharply with the blue of her skin and the overall effect was one of decided, if startling, beauty. For a moment I was quite jealous then she caught sight of us and screamed.

Both the Doctor and I started at the noise which rose in intensity. The woman dropped the spade she had been holding and pointed at us, the scream uninterrupted.

"Woah!! Woah now, there's no need for that!" cried the Doctor, starting forward. The woman seemed to find her voice.

"Don't you come any closer... get away from me, you hear? Just... don't hurt me!" She seemed on the edge of tears at the sight of us and was shaking uncontrollably.

"What are you on about? I'm not going to hurt you, why would I hurt you? I'm a big fan of not hurting people."

At that moment the door of the house burst open and a man with the same dark blue skin came charging out into the yard carrying a gun. At the sight of us he stopped dead and raised his weapon.

"Get in the house Yantha," he called to the woman. "Get back inside and hide!" He clicked off the safety on his gun and the Doctor and I both threw our hands up in the air.

"We're unarmed! We're not carrying any weapons! We're not going to hurt you or your wife, we're just travellers, passing through, on our way to the city and honestly if this is the sort of reception you're giving visitors these days no wonder the roads have been so empty," said the Doctor, babbling rapidly as he tried to diffuse the situation.

"Don't listen to them," said the woman. "They'll lie as soon as breathe these aliens!"

"I said get in the house!" repeated the man and his wife did so, casting one more horrified glance back at us.

"What is going on? What have we done? We haven't done anything, I swear we're just passing through. I don't know what has you so frightened but listen, I can help you, if you just tell me what's going on," insisted the Doctor.

"Hah, help? Like you don't know exactly what's on. You aliens are all the same. Nah, I'm not going to kill you because I'm not going to sink as low as you lot. But you've got two kliks to get off my property and the I'm phoning the police. I don't know what they do with you lot but I hope it's bad. Now get out of here before I change my mind and just kill you now."

Stunned into silence for one of the first times I could remember since we met, the Doctor grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the enraged farmer. I was glad of his assistance as I felt glued to the spot and the barrel of the gun pointed at me seemed to widen as my fear of the situation grew.

"Faster! I'm counting to 10. And you're not going to be escaping the police, you hear me!" yelled the man as we began to run down the road. We rounded a bend and the farm house was out of sight but I heard the gun explode as the farmer fired a warning shot into the air. The Doctor and I looked at each other in shock for a moment, then collapsed into each other's arms in a tight hug. I was still shaking.

"Oy, well that seemed to be a bit of a close one," he said lightly.

"A close one?!" I demanded. "I thought we were toast. And I'd really rather not hang around here, can we keep moving?"

We took off down the road and the city grew before us. Strangely, however, the roads were empty and although the path was quite broad, quite as wide as a six lane motorway, we seemed to be alone. Suddenly, the turrets and towers ahead seemed to loom menacingly rather than gleam in their architectural glory as they had moments before.

"Something's not right," said the Doctor.

"Of course not," I sighed. So much for my vacation.

"I've never been a big one for stealth mode, but why don't we take a side entrance into the city, what do you say?"

I nodded and we turned off of the path to follow the city wall away from the main gate.

"That woman was really truly terrified," I said, beginning to appreciate her own fear now that mine had somewhat abated. "She looked like she had seen a monster."

"I don't understand it, it's not like they aren't used to visitors here," said the Doctor.

"We couldn't have, I don't know, arrived here in the past? Maybe before it because a tourist spot?"

"That's a good thought," he replied, wrinkling his forehead in thought. "But I checked when we left the TARDIS – I had to do the calculations to determine how far away from our projected landing site we ended up. No, we're in the right time. And I was here! Less than five years ago, I was here myself and it was fine!" He clenched his fists in frustration.

"Well, maybe they're just... new to the area?" I asked, although I didn't believe it myself.

"It's possible. All the same, there's something off about all of this. These roads should be jam packed. It was complete chaos getting into the city proper before, all the holidaymakers arriving at once, street vendors all along the road. No, this definitely is not right. Ahh, this looks promising."

We had come upon a small wooden door in the city wall that opened with a zap from the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. It led into a back alleyway and through the towering buildings on either side, I could see the main street. This street, however, was crowded with people and the cheerful hubbub of a noisy city helped me relax slightly. Perhaps it had just been a fluke... we had come across some crazies out in the farm country. Even as I tried to convince myself, beside me the Doctor shifted nervously.

"Not a single traveller. Every single person here is Molasban."

"And that's bad?"

"Well, I don't think it's good. Also means we'll stick out like sore thumbs if anyone's looking for us. Just... keep your head down. And your hands in your pockets. At least until we figure out what's up."

I was glad I was wearing long sleeves.

The Doctor began to creep towards the crowded street but my attention was caught by a shredded poster that had been left in the alley. I picked it up and gingerly flattened it out until the text was visible.

"Doctor, I think you'd better have a look at this."

He was beside me in an instant, and quickly put on his glasses to better inspect the paper before him.

ARMED AND DEADLY ASSAILANTS

KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE

The headline itself was jarring enough but below were images of dozens of aliens, some of which I recognized from the shopping mall on Caspidian Four and number of which I had never seen before. Down in one corner was a pale-skinned human.

IF YOU ARE AWARE OF ANY ALIEN SIGHTINGS

CONTACT LOCAL AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY!

"Well," said the Doctor. "That's interesting. Seems things have changed a bit since I was here last."

"So they think every alien is a deadly assailant? That seems a bit farfetched, there's no way everyone believes that."

At that moment, there was an ear-splitting burst of static followed by a booming voice that spoke out across the crowded city.

"This is an official breaking announcement from MBC News," it said and the city went silent. "The planet Capricorn has fallen in the war, repeat, the planet Capricorn has fallen. Citizens are advised to remain vigilant and report any unusual or overtly alien activity to authorities immediately. As a reminder, any extraterrestrial contact is strictly forbidden and punishable by a life imprisonment sentence." For a moment there was silence, and then the city returned to its normal bustling, although the sounds were muted and the sound of laughter was gone entirely.

"Quick, Noelle, give me your phone," said the Doctor, a note of panic in his voice. I pulled the phone out of my pocket. It was a fairly complex piece of technology, for the earth, and when I handed it to the Doctor, he opened up the digital television application. There was static for a moment, then the image resolved into a blue-skinned Molasban sitting behind a desk emblazoned with a MBC logo.

"For those of you just tuning in," the speaker started. "We can in fact announce that our robotic cameras have returned footage of the destruction of planet Capricorn. As you may be aware, this uninhabited planet was the major source of resources including crude oil, coal, timber and whole grains for a four-planet system. It seems that this targeted attack was organized to cripple this system. It is likely that over nine billion inhabitants will face starvation in the next few months. Experts believe that this will only increase the intra- and extra-planetary violence we have already seen in this war that has escalated to universal levels."

The image on the screen changed and I watched as a fleet of ships descended on what I assumed was the planet Capricorn. For a few moments, there was nothing, then the ships retreated just before an enormous explosion surrounded the planet. When the flames cleared, there was nothing but empty space.

"You didn't tell me there was some universal war going on," I said.

"That's because there's not," said the Doctor. I could nearly feel the waves of anger radiating off him. "The planet Capricorn was removed in a scheduled demolition _years_ ago, long after all of the resources had been exhausted. They built a space station greenhouse there that currently provides food for the entire planetary system. Someone wants these citizens to think that Molasba is hiding for their lives from a war-ravaged universe by twisting this story around."

"Who would possibly want something like that?" I asked and the Doctor shook his head, at a loss.

"Maybe we should just head back to the TARDIS," I suggested tentatively. "Whatever's happening here, it doesn't seem like something you can fix, not if you can't even walk down the street without people thinking you're about to start killing them."

"Noelle, I completely agree with you, one hundred percent. However at the moment, I don't think that's going to be one of our immediate options." Something in his voice made me whip around to look behind me, towards the city street. The way was blocked by a large armoured truck and six uniformed Molasban men stood before us. All of them were armed.

"Look, you don't have to do this, we're not here to hurt you, we're not part of this. We landed here by accident and we were just leaving," said the Doctor quickly, his hands in the air.

"Did I ask you a question?" barked one of the men. "I don't think I did. Sergeant, did I ask this alien scum to tell me what he's doing?"

"No sir," replied one of the others.

"That's right. But you'd better believe that when I do start asking questions, I'm going to get some straight answers. Get 'em in the truck."

I screamed, and the Doctor jumped forward to argue with them further but at that moment, a black sack came down over my head and everything went black.

--

**Author's Note: **Alright, a week between chapters... that's not bad, right? Thanks for the kind words to everyone who reviewed, that's what keeps me going :). As you may have noticed, I'm changing the format slightly and already changed the titles of the chapters. It didn't make sense to keep dating them when the dates didn't really mean anything and this way it's much easier to remember what's going on or what comes next. So, although this is still Noelle's story, from her point of view, it's not going to be in traditional journal format and will now read more like a regular story. I've actually been doing it this way for a while now in my own notes but I didn't want to change the old chapters and loose all of my lovely reviews! In any case, this mini-story (Camera Man) has two more parts, both of which are planned out and the next one should be up in the next week or so. It also depends on what happens in the Doctor Who finale next week. Of course, my story is AU so that won't change, but I may be out of commission depending on how upset/excited I am by who dies/lives next week ;). Please read and review!


	20. Camera Man II

I came to some time later feeling groggy and short of breath. I tried to take a deep breath in and found my mouth filled with a foul-tasting canvas. In a panic, I clawed at my face and found I still had a heavy bag over my head. With a forced calm, I found the drawstring that was tied loosely around my neck and pried the bag open. Cold, fresh air poured into my lungs and for a moment I just gasped for air. I was in a nearly pitch-dark room and shook my head to clear it. Then I remembered what happened.

"Doctor!" I shouted. I stood up and nearly passed out again as my head connected with a _thwack_ against the sloped, rocky ceiling. "Oww!"

"Noelle? Noelle, are you alright?" came the Doctor's voice from somewhere, a note of relief in his voice.

"No thanks to the ceiling, I think I gave myself a concussion. Where are you?"

"I believe my set of lovely accommodations, provided so graciously by our hosts, is next door."

"Can't you get out? What about the sonic screwdriver?" my panic was rising again.

"Well, in theory I could resonate the stone enough to get the door off... in about three months."

"Oh thanks, really helpful."

We were both quiet for a moment, then there was a heavy scraping sound.

"Doctor, what are you doing?"

"I haven't moved, I thought that was you!"

"It sounds like it's... underneath the ground..." I screamed again as suddenly the floor below me began to move and shake. I stepped back against the wall as a part of the floor buckled then disappeared entire. From the hole, there was suddenly a burst of light that illuminated the entirely of my tiny stone prison. A moment later, a figure clambered out of the floor to join me in the small room.

"Er... hello?" I asked.

"I'm still here, what happened," said the Doctor quickly.

"I think she was speaking to me," said the creature who had just arrived. It was a short, rather furry looking thing, about the height of my rib cage with distinctly animal-like features. Although it walked on two legs, it looked like the kind of creature – person, I reminded myself, this was a person – that would be just as happy running on all fours.

"Noelle? Who's there? What's going on?"

"I'm Eureka. Follow me," the newcomer beckoned to me.

"Where are we going?"

"Well clearly into the next room to get your friend," she – as it seemed to be female – replied, rolling her eyes. Without needing another offer, I followed her down into the dank tunnel under my cell.

By the time Eureka had burrowed up into the Doctor's cell, I was covered in dirt and a slimy substance that I was dedicatedly trying to ignore. When we both pulled ourselves into the Doctor's room – which thankfully was quite a bit larger than mine had been – he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Alright there?" he asked with a grin.

"Oh, you know. Kidnapped, concussed and terrified. The usual."

"Hullo!" he said, turning to Eureka. "Where did you come from?"

"Oh, I'm your neighbour three doors down," she replied with a bit of irony in her voice. "Welcome to the neighbourhood. We heard them bring you in, but don't reckon they'll be back for a few hours. You're the first new-comers in ages, they've been shooting aliens on site from what I've heard. You're quite lucky!"

"Hang on a minute, this isn't right at all. I've _been_ here before! It's never been like this."

"Mister, I've been living on Molasba for forty nine years. I know exactly what it was like. And I know what it's like now. And to be frank, I'm pretty sure I know what it's going to be like in the future even without that bloody riff, thank you very much. Alright then, what are your names?"

"I'm Noelle."

"And I'm the Doctor. But what do you mean you know what it's like now? What happened? What are you doing here?"

Eureka sighed. "I suppose you'll want the whole damn story." She sounded as if she'd rather not talk about it.

"Please. If you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help."

"You? You're stuck here just like the rest of us. Alright, but I'm only going to go through this once, and we'll do it here, before we go meet the others. I would just upset them."

She took a deep breath and began.

"About four years ago, there was an attack. A small group of planetary leaders were meeting for a convention and a group of radical fundamentalists thought it would be a good idea to blow them up. No one is quite sure how they got around the security but they planted explosives through the biggest convention centre in Alexandra. Over six thousand killed in the blast, and the air was filled with smoke for days.

"Well, of course people were frightened. Everyone was affected by it personally or knew someone who had lost someone – it was one of the biggest employers in the city so there were residents there as well as tourists. Security measures were heightened and they eventually found the people who did it – safe on their home planet, a place we discovered was called Tyruth although it's long gone now in the war. For weeks, the government of Molasba debated on whether to retaliate and finally Governor Blagg convinced the others that retaliation wasn't necessary, that we shouldn't sink to their level, and we should focus on protecting our own cities.

"It was a popular decision and he was put in charge of overseeing the new measures of protection. Meanwhile, the Molasbans who never really cared much for interplanetary politics that didn't affect the tourist industry, were beginning to open their eyes to the worlds beyond. Every day, the news showed more and more terrible happenings, the escalating war. Tyruth was destroyed by another enemy, planets fell daily, and the terror here rose. In response to overwhelming demands from the citizens of Alexandra, Blagg began to close major tourist destinations, only leaving open those that supported the economy.

"But that wasn't enough and soon even outsiders who had lived on Molasba all of their lives were the focus of suspicion and hatred. They began moving us to camps and holding areas – for our own protection they said. Then outsiders started disappearing, and the tourists stopped coming all together, which was fine for Alexandra. Years passed, and massive magnetic barriers have been erected around the planet to prevent any ships from approaching the planet. I suppose the only reason they left you alive was to figure out how you got here in the first place.

"And every day the news is worse. It's like there's a disease out there and everyone in the universe has caught it. There's too much killing and maybe I'm lucky I'm here and not out there." Eurkea finished glumly and shrugged, as if trying to convince herself that were true.

The Doctor and I stared at her in shocked silence.

"But they can't possibly think that every alien in the universe wants to kill them! That doesn't even make sense," I insisted.

"I don't know where you two have been for the last four years... you didn't even know Molasba was closed to tourists and everyone knows that! How you missed the fact that the universe, and everyone in it, is at war I have no idea. But we see the news – they let us watch it sometimes. And all I know is that I'd take a naked space walk before I trusted an alien."

"Right," said the Doctor slowly. "Of course. Ok then!" He suddenly clapped his hands together as if having made a decision. "Where exactly does that tunnel lead?"

Eureka looked surprised.

"Back to through the prison block. These are the oldest ones but we're on the more modern side – us who were long time residents in the city have it a bit nicer."

"Modern," muttered the Doctor. "Modern is good. Modern means metal locks." My heart rose in my chest. "Lead on my good Eureka."

She grabbed the lantern.

"I thought you told me there wasn't some universal war," I hissed to the Doctor as she crawled before us.

"And I was right."

"Ok, so maybe they're a little overly paranoid. But the terrorist attack on their biggest city, I mean, that's more than enough to put anyone over the edge," I said, some Earth-side parallels coming immediately to mind.

"I would be slightly more inclined to believe that if they hadn't been attacked by inhabitants of a fictional planet," said the Doctor. His voice was cold.

"What?"

"Tyruth isn't real. It's like... a filler name used by some planetary systems. Like, you might call an unknown planet Planet X until you could come up with something better. They call it Tyruth. It's not especially standard, most systems wouldn't know that it's not a real name."

"So, you're telling me that they were attacked by fictional people and are now showing news footage of a war that doesn't exist?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you."

We had crawled along a short ways before the tunnel opened up into a wider corridor. A stone set of stair had been roughly hewn into the fall wall and as we climbed upwards, the air began to feel less damp. Finally we emerged from the stone foundations of the prison into what could have been a residential apartment building, except there were no windows and the doors were reinforced with heavy metal bars.

"We've been here so long they generally let us do what we please as long as we stay out of sight. They don't know about the passageway down to the lower cells, though."

I wasn't really listening to Eureka, I was watching the Doctor who was fingering something in his pocket, and looking quite pleased with the new standard of security on these doors.

"Quite right. Well, I suppose we'd better be getting off. Lot to do, planets to liberate, that sort of thing," said the Doctor cheerful. Eureka stopped midstep.

"What did you say?"

He pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and held it up to the door. The lock clicked.

"Eureka, I've done it," he said, a wide grin of his face. I hit him lightly.

"You've been waiting to say that since she got here haven't you?" He just laughed.

"Pull your sleeves down as far as you can. Over your hands if possible. We'll just have to make do with the hair, keep your face down, we should be alright if we're careful," he was saying, lifting up the collar of his own coat. Eureka stared at us, agape and shaking.

"You're going out there. And I don't even know you! I led you out... you could be here to destroy Molasba now! I should... I will alert the guards if you leave!"

The Doctor looked at her, his eyes full of pity.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If you can't believe that we are here to help, if you have no faith that there are some people out in the universe that want to make your lives better, not worse, I can't even imagine what sort of life that must be." With a final look, back, we stepped through the door and out into Alexandra.

The prison where we had been held was a heavy, imposing building on the outskirts of the city, but still within the city walls.

"They clearly didn't want to kill those long time residents, but they couldn't just leave them out and about, not with conditions as they are here," explained the Doctor. "Of course they knew that Eureka and her friends weren't going to harm them – just get them out of the way. That wasn't even a particularly high security prison. Lucky for us."

"Well where are we going now?"

"There." The Doctor pointed at a gleaming skyscraper in the distance. It's layered floors, almost pagoda-like in their delicacy and structure, gave it a feathery appearance and the windows were treated with a lacquer that made them appear pure gold in the last of the evening sunlight. On the top of the building, a graceful sculpture seemed to spell out the letters MBC.

"MBC, wasn't that the news broadcaster?" I asked.

"Right in one. And I'd bet my sonic screwdriver that the problem starts there. Conveniently terrifying news? Citizens glued to their televisions waiting for broadcasts of horror?"

"Sounds like Fox News," I muttered.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing, alright, let's go check out the TV studios. I've always wanted to be on TV."

--

Evening turned to night with a rapidness that I appreciated, and with it came a light chill that must have contributed to the quiet streets. Despite the cover of darkness, and the empty city, I still felt quite exposed despite my best efforts to cover my skin. Once or twice we passed an Molasban hurrying home, but they didn't look at us and we avoided notice. Before us, the MBC building loomed ever close.

By the time we reached the tower, the golden windows just dark amber eyes staring down with none of the golden warmth they had shown in the sun, the night had fallen in its entirety and the world was silent. I shivered slightly and the Doctor took my hand as we entered the building. Behind an empty reception desk was a long corridor and set of stairs that disappeared into the darkness. The darkness that... flickered.

"Oh ho, that looks promising," said the Doctor in response to the faint bluish light that barely illuminated the top of the stairs. The light seemed to waver slightly at his voice.

"Doctor, I realize it may be a bit late for this discussion," I said. "But why haven't we just gone back to the TARDIS and gotten out of here?" The Doctor looked at me heavily.

"Is that what you want?"

I thought about it.

"Yes," I said slowly. "But at the same time, I know why you're here. The way people are living here like this, terrified all the time, truly believing that everyone different than them wants to kill them, and that they should treat others the same way... That's miserable. That's worse than actually being alone in the universe like the Earth. If... if we can help, if you really think we could fix it, then I guess I'd want to try."

The Doctor looked at me with a surprised, but pleased look on his face.

"Noelle Kelley, you're fantastic." I blushed.

"Yeah, well, we'll see how fantastic I think you are if you get us killed on this mission of yours."

He grinned in a none-too-reassuring way and led me up the stairs.

A few flights up, the glow had gotten stronger and I glanced through one of the doors into the rooms beyond.

"Doctor," I whispered. "I think there are people in there. Lots of people!"

He jumped forward, pressing his nose against the glass. For a moment he was silent, and his shoulders tensed. Suddenly there was a piercing scream from within the room and the Doctor threw himself forward through the door.

I followed behind and a strange sight met my eyes. A series of glowing blue wires seemed to be coming out of the walls and feeding into the bodies of a long row of people sitting cross-legged on the floor. Each of the Molasbans was unmoving, their eyes wide open and unblinking, but every so often a brief burst of static electricity pulsed through one of them, jarring their body. It was silent again but a moment later there was another, different scream and I saw the Molasban at the end of the row begin to convulse. I rushed forward but the Doctor held me back. After a second, the scream faded and the man was still again.

The Doctor's face was etched with lines of horror and disgust and even though I didn't know what was going on, I could tell it wasn't good.

"What are they doing? Can we help them?"

"These," said the Doctor coldly. "Are the famous seers of Molasba. They're tied into the riff, not just a passing physic sense but truly attached to the endless flux of time and space. If anyone who hadn't been used to the riff in the first place tried this, it would kill them. As it is, I don't think these people will last long. No one's meant to watch all of time and space, it drives them mad."

"Can't we... unplug them or something?" I asked.

"If we touch them there's a chance we might get pulled into the riff as well. But this isn't right – this is exactly why there were regulations around areas with such riffs. They're widening the breach. Who knows by how much. The entire planet... the entire galaxy is in danger!"

"What for? Who would do this?" I demanded.

"That is exactly what we're going to find out."

--

AN: Sorry for the delay, I'm working full time and commuting a total of 3 hours a day so it's a bit hard to fit in time for writing. Add to that I'm working on an original novel of my own and some scripts to submit to agents to apply for jobs as a script writer (I don't think I'd even have a shot with Doctor Who, but there are lots of TV shows out there, you never know!). On top of all of that, I'm still exploring my new hometown of London and trying to get out and about in the UK and do some exploring. So... that's why I'm slow at updating. Just so you know, this story has one more part and then there's a massive final bit (kind of like a two-part episode of DW on TV) and that'll be it for Noelle's journal. I don't have any plans to do a sequel because I just haven't had the time, but I wanted to give my kind readers the heads up that the end is coming :P. Hope everyone enjoyed last week's DW season finale, I know I did! As always, please read and review.


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